


Dragon Ball C

by PickleandtheQueen



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: AU, Adventure, Alternate Timelines, Family, Multi, Saiyan Culture, saiyan!chichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:31:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6527632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PickleandtheQueen/pseuds/PickleandtheQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rated TEEN for MOD depictions of violence, some character death. Nothing too naughty will happen within the story itself - anything "mature" will be posted in a separate work :) <br/>It's Dragon Ball...do deaths even really count? LOL </p><p>This story will explore an alternate timeline where Chichi, or Kale, is the saiyan sent to Earth rather than Kakarot/Goku and the differences such a change would make on the world of dragon ball. It will follow DB through Z, possibly extending to Super, although unlikely.<br/>Updates may be a little slow considering I'm in med school. </p><p>Found by the Ox King in a destroyed space pod, Chichi is a feisty and somewhat belligerent young girl- with a long simian tail. After befriending a group of young adventurers on a quest for the seven magical dragon balls, Chichi decides to join up with them in hopes of snagging a wish to restore her father's castle to its former glory before the Giant Moon Monster destroyed it. Throughout the course of the journey, Chichi finds herself fighting against monsters far more menacing that one who destroyed her home, and making friends with the strangest of people. (DB)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Quest Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Chichi and Yamcha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Basically the same introduction to Chichi that we get in the series, so there's dino-blood

_Thirteen years have passed since the destruction of the Warrior Planet Vegeta. All but those few traveling saiyans, off-planet at the time, perished in the mysterious, violent explosion. Two princes, a royal guard, a common soldier, and a child escaped the blast that destroyed their homeworld…_

 

* * *

 

Chichi’s tail twitched as she watched the lone brontosaurus meander across the grassland, dark eyes narrowing as she plotted how best to take down the tasty beast. Her father would be thrilled if she brought home that much food for them! Ever since that giant monkey monster had stomped their castle home flat, it had been difficult to get enough to eat. She licked her lips, breath quickening as she tensed her muscles, prepared to spring.

A shadow fell over the little girl. A _large_ shadow.

Chichi blinked, her blood running cold as she identified the brute looming above her.

“Uh oh…”

The tyrannosaurus roared, its massive jaws snapping shut on where the child had crouched only seconds before. Chichi untangled herself from her cape in a hurry, and was up and running. Fleeing from the tyrannosaurus, which had much larger, longer legs than she, was a feat.

Chichi shrieked and leapt forward, narrowly avoiding the beast’s ferocious teeth as it snapped its gaping maw just behind her. She screamed again and forced her feet to move faster, tucking her tail closer behind her. If the dinosaur got a hold of that, she would be done for!

Mind racing even faster than her feet, Chichi tried to gain a little ground. If only she could get just a bit more ahead of the tyrannosaurus, she could take it down with the axe-blade on her helmet!

Suddenly, the behemoth of a predator slowed, as if distracted. It was her chance! The girl sprang forward, spinning around and grabbing the blade from the top of her helmet and whipping it at the dinosaur. Her lips tugged back over her teeth, a fierce grin on her face.

“That’s what you get for not paying attention!” It had seen the lone brontosaurus. And that had cost it its life. The blade sliced through the tyrannosaurus’s neck, chopping its head right off of its shoulders. Blood spurted from the creature’s body, drenching her. Chichi threw up her arms and yelped as the hot liquid soaked her front. “EEW! EWW OH GROSS, AHH!” She staggered backwards, trying to escape the dead lizard’s aortic expulsions. At least it was fizzling out. “Now I’m covered in blood!” she wiped the liquid desperately from her face, disgusted by the sheer amount of it on her, flicking it from her gloves in utter disdain.

 

"Hey! I heard shout -" Chichi turned around, blinking and tensing as her large eyes landed on the strange young man. He skidded to a halt, eyes wide with terror. It probably had something to do with blood covering her face and armor.

 

"I don't -"

 

"Oh my God!" A fist collided with the side of her helmet. Chichi shook her head to get rid of the ringing noise caused by the blow, and crossed her arms, glowering up at the taller young man.

 

" _Excuse me!_ Did no one ever tell you that you're not supposed to hit girls? Especially not _Princesses_!" She aimed a kick at the startled young man, "we aren't sparring and I didn't attack you! So whydidja hit me?" she chambered her lower leg, twisting her body and snapping her leg out to land a blow to the young man's rib cage. The man fell back on his rump with a yell, Chichi glaring down at him with arms sternly crossed over her chest, her tail flicking irritably.

 

" _Princess?_ " Chichi raised an eyebrow. "I, uh..."

 

"Who are you anyway?" Chichi had purposefully puffed herself up, trying to make her young body appear bigger, clenching her fists and dropping into horse stance.

The young man held up a hand in surrender, scooting away from her.

 

“My name is Yamcha, and I’m uh, I am a traveler. Of sorts.”

 

Chichi squinted at the teenager. _Of sorts? That meant a bandit_. The princess’s expression grew grim.

 

“Bandits aren’t welcome in this country,” she snarled, lips pulling back over small yet clearly noticeable fangs. “I suggest you get out while I’m in a good mood.”

 

Yamcha, if that was even his real name, waved his hand, looking terrified.

 

“Wait a minute! I’m not a bandit!”

 

Raising an eyebrow, the girl’s fists dropped an infinitesimal amount. She hoped her face wore a clearly readable expression of “convince me.” Apparently, it did. Yamcha laughed nervously, his face screwing up in doing so. “Yeah, uh, your father sent me to find you. He um, said that he needs you for a - ”

 

“You’re lying. I can tell.” Chichi brushed some of the blood from her blue armor. It smeared, and she crinkled her nose in disgust. _How gross!_ She rolled her eyes. “You don’t smell like you were close to him at all. He didn’t tell you to come find me.” She sniffed, turning up her nose at him. “And since you lied, I’ve decided not to let you go.”

 

“What?” The bandit squealed as Chichi grabbed his leg, dragging him along behind her even as he tried to snatch onto the ground and escape. Rolling her eyes, the girl plodded along, heading towards her kill. She hoisted the decapitated tyrannosaurus rex’s tail, tucking the muscled appendage under her arm.

 

“I’ll have to come back for the head later,” Chichi cast a rueful glance at the bloodstained trophy. “It would look quite nice over the fireplace once we rebuild the castle.”

 


	2. Enter the Dragon Balls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chichi meets the Gang!  
> What is a Moon Monster?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Finals week really kicked my ass this year and I came down with something awful as soon as I got home! 
> 
> CONTENT WARNINGS:   
> Nothing too graphic but a semi-detailed description of the T-Rex getting butchered for dinner and Goku has too much fun playing with the carcass. It will be obvious where it starts and ends. (Towards the end of the chapter)

Chichi was struggling to haul both her kill and the struggling bandit. “Would you quit it, Yamcha! You’re being a real pain in the tail! ‘S not like my daddy’s gonna kill ya or anything. Just rough ya uppa bit.” She was probably exaggerating. It was more than likely that her father would just send the young man packing with a threat to stay out of the Ox Kingdom.

“And I’m telling you to let me go! This - this is your last warning! I’m -”

“I don’t think yer in any position t’be makin’ threats!” Chichi adjusted her hold on Yamcha’s leg. But in that short moment, Yamcha twisted, and made a grab at her. “What’re you - ahh!” Chichi yelped as the bandit’s hands closed tightly around her tail. It was like she had been abruptly dunked into icy winter water. It shot up her spine from the point in her tail where Yamcha gripped it, up to her head, and back down again like freezing lightning. It was unlike anything she had ever before experienced. Yamcha and the T-Rex fell from her nerveless fingers as she toppled forwards, face-planting in the dirt.

 

“Hey, hey are you Chichi?” She blinked, gaze unfocused. “Y’sure look like the girl in the picture Mr. Ox King showed me ‘n’ Bulma!”

Slowly, the image of a boy with shaggy dark hair slid into focus. Chichi tensed, and scrambled to her feet, growling and glaring at him with narrowed eyes. The boy leapt back, one hand reaching behind his head to grab a pole strapped to his back. 

“Who’re you?” Chichi tested her balance, unsure of what exactly had happened with her tail… That could wait, she supposed. “You said my daddy showed you a picture of me?” her newly recovered tail lashed angrily behind her. 

The boy visibly relaxed, grinning at her. His hand fell away from the pole. 

“Sure did! Looked just like you, ‘cept there wasn’t any blood in the picture.” He scratched his head, shaggy hair falling in front of his face. “I’m Goku!” the boy took a step towards her, extending his hand. Chichi glanced between his hand and his face. 

“Um…” Chichi took it tentatively, and quickly found herself being shaken bodily by Goku. “So, my daddy really sent you to look for me?”

“Yeah! He said you’d gone out lookin’ fer food and hadn’t come back yet!” At the mention of food, her stomach growled loudly, and she looked around for her T-Rex. It was right where she had left it before she had… Passed out? What had happened? 

“Did you see a guy with dark hair in a pony-tail? He was wearing green.”

Goku shook his head, but his expression sobered slightly. 

“Naw, but I bet I know who yer talkin’ ‘bout! He’s been pesterin’ me ‘n’ Bulma.”  

“Oh yeah?” Chichi frowned. “I knew he was lying to me, shoulda knocked him out.” She scowled, live and learn. At least the bandit hadn’t made off with her dinner! Life had been...well,  _ difficult _ was not exactly the word; she could hunt and her father’s legacy scared away most ne'er do wells. She supposed  _ different _ was more than fair, and  _ unpleasant _ would be understandable...since the Moon Monster had destroyed the castle. At least the T-Rex would feed both her and her father for a few days. 

“So you’re Goku?” she asked once more, eyeing the boy. “What brings you to the Ox Kingdom?” Once again, she scooped up the decapitated dino’s tail and began dragging it after her. Goku fell into step beside her, beginning a long, intriguing, and slightly rambling tale. 

“So, you think there’s one of them Dragon Balls in my castle?” Chichi had never before seen anything in castle that looked like the shiny little orb he held in his hands. Then again, she had never been one for adventuring inside the castle, and now that it was destroyed… 

“That’s what Bulma says!” Goku chirruped, “she has this weird watch thing that tracks where they are. I don’t know how, but she sure is smart!” 

“Well I don’t know about any Dragon Balls, but I’ve got some T-Rex balls back here.”

Goku laughed, crossing his hands behind his head. Chichi couldn’t help but smile at him. It was a little short lived. “Say, you’re a girl right? Ox King said so.” Chichi nearly dropped her dinosaur in indignation.

“Of course I’m a girl!” she huffed, face flushing, tail lashing behind her. “Why would you even ask that?!” 

“Well, Bulma said she’s a girl but she doesn’t have a tail.” Goku pointed at the offending appendage. It puffed up and stilled, standing ramrod straight behind her. 

“Well that’s because I’m a princess, Goku. Princesses have tails. It’s how other people know they’re princesses.” She rolled her eyes and leaned forward, dragging the carcass behind her. Goku had to jog to catch up to her. 

“So princesses are different from girls?” he mused, once more walking beside her with his hands behind his head. “Huh. Okay then.” He seemed to accept it then, but Chichi maintained a scowl. What business did he have questioning her about her tail? 

 

“CHEEECHEEEEEE!” 

The ground shook, bouncing the two youngsters up and down, knocking Goku on his butt. Chichi, being far more used to her father’s gargantuan size, absorbed the shock with her knees. She dropped the T-Rex tail, leaping forward and into her father’s arms. 

“DADDEEEEE!” The Ox King swung her around easily, with the Princess practically fitting in his cupped hands. 

“Oh, my darling, I was so worried! What took you so long my dear? Where have you been? What is all of this blood from?”

Chichi threw her head back and laughed, her helmet slipping slightly but staying on her head.

“It’s from our dinner, Daddy. I killed it myself.” She pointed at the headless T-Rex on the ground behind her, and was rewarded by a whiskery kiss on the cheek and a loud chuckle of approval. 

“Oh ho ho ho! So you did!” but his tone sobered, “Chichi, my dear, I have told you before that you are supposed to stay away from the dangerous dinosaurs!” He set her on his shoulder and stomped over to the dinosaur. “This feller could’ve eaten you, and then I’d be all alone!”

Chichi kissed her father’s cheek. 

“I was going after a long neck and then that nasty piece o’ work tried to eat me so I chopped off his head!” she swiped her hand through the air in a chopping motion and laughed, baring her sharp little fangs in a feral grin. She dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch and hopping up. “Daddy, this is Goku. He said you sent him to look for me?” Goku was looking around, and Chichi thought he looked nervous. 

“Why yes, I did. You were gone for far too long!”

It was then that a tallish girl with blue hair and a pig wearing clothes came running over. The girl skidded to a halt, face paling as she looked between Chichi’s dinner and Goku. 

“Hi Bulma!” Goku, at least, was unperturbed by the dead dinosaur. He looked far more relaxed now that the other two had shown up. The pig-man had already fainted. “I found Chichi. I guess that wolf-man is still following us. He made Chichi late coming back.”

“Wolf-man?” The Ox-King’s voice boomed, “what wolf-man?” Goku, who seemed to be the only newcomer with use of his voice, launched into a garbled but easy-enough to follow explanation, while the blue-haired girl - Bulma? - nodded mutely, still eyeing the headless dinosaur and the blood-covered princess. Seemingly satisfied with Goku’s story, Ox King clapped his mammoth hands, creating a sound not unlike a thunderhead rolling over the land, and declared that it was time to prepare dinner. Without allowing for any discussion, the giant set about delegating who was to carry out what task when it came to butchering Chichi’s kill. Bulma immediately volunteered to gather firewood, and dragged the pig-man off with her away from carcass. Goku was rather enthusiastic in his task of removing the organs. Good. Chichi hated that particular task. It was smelly and disgusting it took far too many baths to cleanse the stink of it all off of her skin and out of her hair. She crinkled her nose at Goku, who was busy extracting the T-Rex’s heart. He was covered head to toe in blood and gore, grinning wildly as he grappled with the organ, which was about twice the boy’s size. She herself was dividing the meat strips her father cut into what was to be immediately eaten, and what was to be preserved for later. The dinosaur was large enough to feed both Chichi and her father for about a week; some cuts would be turned into jerky, but most of the meat would be eaten within the week. 

“Well, Chichi my dear,” Ox boomed, rescuing Goku from the liver under which he was trapped, “I certainly don’t want my little girl going after something as dangerous as this here feller, but I sure am proud of you for bringing home something this impressive.”

“I had to leave the head,” she commented. “I was trying to bring that bandit Goku was talkin’ ‘bout in too but he got away after he grabbed my tail.” 

“Must be careful with that tail of yours, my Princess.” 

Chichi grunted in agreement. Her stomach was rumbling and if she weren’t a princess, she’d be sampling some extra rare T-Rex steak. Spitting the meat destined to be that night’s dinner, she glanced over at Bulma and the pig-man, whose name was apparently Oolong, checking on the status of the fire. It was quite apparent that the girl had never needed to make a cooking fire before. Chichi frowned and marched over, taking control of the situation. 

The older girl loudly commented that she had it under control, but it was all for show; as soon as Chichi began adjusting the setup and prodding the flames, Bulma skedaddled away, flopping onto a piece of rubble with what had to be dramatic flair. 

“A tender, beautiful flower such as myself should not be doing something like that anyway. It’ll ruin my nails and my hands. Ugh and I’m almost out my good lotion. There’s no way I’ll be able to find it anywhere but back home...ughhhhhh.” Chichi listened to her moan with one ear; she had really never had fancy things like nice nails and perfumey lotions. She pursed her lips. Not like she wanted anything like that… Okay. So, she kind of wanted those things. Being a princess was tough work, of course, and someone had to do it, but...she examined her nails, which were dirty and chipped. Chichi pursed her lips, brow furrowing. A problem for another day…

 

“So Chichi, do you wanna come with me ‘n’ Bulma ‘n’ Oolong to get the rest of the Dragon Balls?” 

“Go  _ with _ you?” She still wasn’t even sure what a Dragon Ball was; Bulma and Oolong were still searching through the rubble of the ruined castle for the thing. 

“Yeah! You’re super cool and seem pretty tough and we’re friends now. So, it makes sense!” Chichi’s stomach decided to attempt some acrobatics - such an action was rather ill advised with all the Tyrannosaurus meat sitting in it. She swallowed the mouthful she had been chewing, and looked at her father. 

“I… I dunno, Goku. I mean… Um…” Going adventuring sounded incredibly appealing, and kindled a fire burning in her belly. It had always been there, burning and flickering deep in her gut, only partially satisfied by taking on dangerous prey and helping her father chase down bandits. She shook her head; here she was entertaining thoughts of up and leaving her father with the giant Moon Monster on the loose! What if it came back and she wasn't there to protect her father? Sure, her daddy was strong, but the Moon Monster had destroyed their castle. Even the Ox King could not destroy a whole castle by himself! But she could not bring herself to say the words  _ Sorry, I can't go, _ and instead looked around for a distraction. Her chocolate colored eyes fell on the wishbone sitting atop a pile of bones and skin. “Hey, Goku, you wanna do the wishbone with me?”

Apparently the idea of playing with a carcass was highly appealing to the boy. He whooped and leapt to his feet, grabbing her hand. Chichi threw back her head and laughed as she managed to get her feet going underneath her. 

“Ox King you be the judge!” Goku hoisted the bone in the air, offering one end to Chichi. She wrapped her arms around it, and Goku did the same on his end. Both children planted their feet in the ground and waited for the Ox King to call the start.

“Have your wishes? Yes? Alright, on your mark. Go!”

Chichi hauled back on her piece, hearing Goku’s heels pull up dirt as he struggled back. There was a loud  _ crack! _ and both children fell back on their bottoms. 

Goku had the larger piece. 

“Alright! I won!” Goku whooped and jumped into the air, then dropped his piece and dashed over to Chichi, helping her to her feet. “So you're gonna come with me an’ Bulma ‘nd Oolong, right? That’s what I wished for!” His eyes were shining, and Chichi caught her father’s smile. A subtle nod. Chichi grinned at Goku. 

“You bet I am!”

 

“I don’t even want to go into how frickin hard it was to find this thing, but I found it! Jeeze, what even happened here? This place looks like it was hit by a tornado.” 

Bulma was examining a shiny little orange ball with three tiny red stars that she had found buried in a pile of rubble. As interesting as it was, Chichi did not take too kindly to the knock at her home. 

“It was attacked by the Moon Monster,” she snapped. “It’s a giant monkey with really big teeth and it’s super mean. It showed up one night and destroyed the whole castle. It even carried me off.” It had been a terrifying day. She had woken up in a field, miles from the castle in tattered rags for clothes and massive footprints all around her. She had cried for hours until her father had tracked her down and swept her up into his great big arms and held her. She left that part out. 

“Moon Monster?” Chichi’s ear twitched at the note of fear in Bulma’s voice. 

“Yup. It hasn’t come back though. Daddy says it only comes when someone looks at the moon past their bedtime.” 

“If I ever see the Moon Monster, I’m gonna challenge it to a fight,” Goku said, absently tossing some smaller pieces of castle. “I betcha I can take it.”

Chichi snorted, but did not argue. Goku had spunk...and she found it endearing. 

 

It was another two or so hours before the odd group of Bulma, Goku, Oolong, and Chichi were ready to continue on with their journey, and a good portion of that time was spent saying goodbye to the Ox King. 

“Remember to go to bed on time!”

“I will, Daddy.”

“And don’t look at the moon, or the Moon Monster might come back!”

“Don’t you look at it either, Daddy.”

“Oh ho ho ho, not to worry, my dear, I most certainly will not be looking at it!”

 

Bulma had been impatiently waiting by the car, tapping her foot. Goku was perched on the roof, and Oolong was in the passenger’s seat. 

“Goku, get in your seat. You’re not going to be able to stay on the roof once we get going. You’ll blow right off!” 

“Aw, Bulma, you’re no fun,” Goku moaned as he clambered into the back seat behind Bulma. Chichi hopped in next to Goku, her stomach absolutely flipping and turning as she buckled herself in. An adventure! Just like a fairy tale!

  
Little did she know that she, as well as her new found friends, were following Bulma’s dragon radar to the most frightening encounter any of them had ever experienced… 


	3. It's a Trap!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pilaf Appears!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My usual style of writing is hopefully going to return as I get into the bits that I find a bit more interesting... Hahaha... I've never written a "retelling" of a story before so I feel as if my style is suffering from it...also I really want to get to the Piccolo Sagas since the Piccolos are my favorites!   
> Sorry about the length in between updates...   
> Enjoy!

_ With six dragon balls in the bag, the odd little group of adventurers set off with enthusiasm in search of the last ball. At first, all was cheery and exciting, but young Chichi quickly became bored and restless... _

 

“I’m hungryyyyyy,” Chichi groaned, leaning heavily against Goku, who expressed the same sentiment with a gurgle in his stomach. 

“Would you two quit it? We just had breakfast three hours ago. Geeze, you’re both like teenage boys.”

“I’m,” Goku began ticking off his fingers, face screwed up in concentration, “fourteen. No, wait, what comes after eleven?”

“Twelve, same as me. And that’s close enough to teenagers! I’m a growing princess. I have to eat every ninety minutes or I get _ weak. _ ” Chichi flopped against the backrest, sliding until her seat belt just barely started to choke her. “I’m wasting away!” Goku snickered beside her, and Chichi turned up the dramatics, faking tears as Goku’s suppressed giggles grew to outright guffaws, and Bulma nearly crashed the car as she turned around to yell at them, Oolong squealing and grabbing the wheel to correct the car’s path. 

“Now listen here, you  _ horrid little cretins _ ! I am  _ not _ your mother and I  _ refuse _ to be treated like a servant! We’re  _ not _ stopping until _ I say so  _ and that  _ won’t _ be anytime soon!” 

“Aww lighten up,  _ Bloomers _ ,” Goku covered his mouth, muffling his words, “we’re just hungry!” It was Chichi’s turn to laugh, and she threw back her head, kicking her feet around in glee. Goku was so  _ funny _ ! 

Bulma huffed and turned back around, much to poor Oolong’s relief. 

“What on earth did I do to deserve being stuck with a bunch of wild children! Ugh!” But, she pulled over near a lake, and snapped that they had twenty minutes to find something to eat, take a whiz, and get back in the car. “I _will_ leave without you!”

“No, you won’t, I still have my grandpa’s ball!” Goku laughed and ran down to the lake, tying a line to the pole he carried on his back. “Alright, Chichi, whaddaya think? Anything good?”

Chichi surveyed the landscape for ideas on food and decided to leave the fishing to Goku. “I’ll climb some trees and check for eggs,” she suggested, setting her helmet on the ground. Climbing trees was good fun, and it had been some time since she had found a tree tall enough to be worth scaling.

Scampering around on the high branches, Chichi found only one nest of four eggs. Her father had always told her to never, ever take the entire nest, and snatched two eggs from it. One of them was too large for the nest anyway; a cuckoo, most likely. She’d be doing the parents a favor, taking that one. She only hoped the eggs were freshly laid and she wouldn’t be in for an upsetting surprise cracking the eggs open. Tucking the eggs safely in her armor, she made her way, branch to branch, back to the ground. Goku had caught a fish and several frogs. 

She was not hungry enough to eat a frog. Goku, however, was obviously not opposed to fried frog. Chichi kept the eggs and split the fish with her new friend. Bulma looked utterly disgusted but left them alone to eat their snack. 

“Wash your hands and faces before you get back in my car,” she called back over her shoulder as she stomped back to the vehicle. “Can’t believe you ate a frog.” 

“ _ I  _ didn’t eat a frog,  _ Goku _ ate a frog. You’d have to  _ pay _ me to eat a frog.” Unless she was really, _really_ hungry. Like, hadn’t eaten in two days hungry. “I had eggs and fish.”

“Yeah well, don’t expect to stop again before we reach something resembling civilization, okay?”   
Chichi stuck her tongue out and buckled her seatbelt.

 

_ Unbeknownst to the group, Yamcha and Puar were not far behind them, tracking the group with the intent of swooping in at the last second and stealing their dragon balls. However, it seemed that someone  else had similar plans… _

 

Bulma slammed on the breaks, throwing everyone in the vehicle forwards, in a vain attempt to avoid the explosions that next rocked the car and its terrified occupants. For a moment, Chichi thought the car was going to flip over on them, but it settled on its side. She threw off her seatbelt, jumping out of the car and scrambling over to the other side to face whatever threat had come to challenge them. This was why she had joined on the adventure, after all! Goku was right behind her, his  _ Nyoi-bō  _ drawn and held at the ready. 

“What just -” but before he could finish his sentence, a second explosion knocked the children off of their feet, and Bulma and Oolong were scrambling to get out of the way as the car creaked ominously. 

The smoke and dust settled, Goku and Chichi picking themselves up off the ground, coughing and looking around for the source. Chichi’s eyes bugged out of her head.

A robot suit, piloted by a dog man, stood over them. Chichi and Goku braced to fight, but the robot walked right past them, tearing apart the car while Bulma screamed. 

“I’ll be taking these,” a whiny little voice, artificially magnified, boomed from the robot, it held up the suitcase containing the dragon balls. 

“Hey! Don’t let them get away with my dragon balls!”

Chichi kicked in the robot’s left knee, while Goku attacked the other leg. The robot, however, apparently did not need those to escape, and the children were buffeted backwards as rocket launchers ignited, knocking them to the ground. “Get after that thief! _Get after them!_ ” 

“ _ Kinto’uuuuuun! _ ” Goku screamed, and Chichi clapped her hands over her ears. What the hell was Goku yelling about? She was about to ask, but was stopped by the arrival of a friendly yellow cloud that came whistling down out of the sky to hover next to them. Goku hopped on and gestured for her to follow suit. For a moment, she hesitated - there was just no way that thing could hold her up! Clouds were made of water, and you can’t stand on water! - but Goku grinned at her, and her heart skipped a beat, and she climbed on behind him. 

 

“Goku,” Chichi called over the air around them, “what is this thing?”

“It’s the kinto’un!” he yelled back, “this old geezer gave it to me as a thank you for helpin’ his turtle!”

“A turtle?” Could it be? Her father had been trained by a man with a penchant for turtles! “Could you mean the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi?” 

“Yeah, Old Man Roshi! He said only those with pure hearts can ride the kinto’un.” Any further discussion was interrupted as the duo spotted the robot shell down on the ground. They descended, searching around for the case containing the dragon balls. It was nowhere to be found, nor was the pilot of the machine. The two returned to the place where they left Bulma and Oolong. 

 

“You _came back_ without my _dragon balls_?” Chichi and Goku clapped their hands over their ears as Bulma screeched, towering over them and waving her hands wildly about. “So you’re telling me we have _no_ car, _no_ capsules, and _no_ _freaking dragon balls?_ What was the point of bringing you two overpowered brats along if you can’t even protect my interests! UGH!!!” 

“But Bulma, we still have  _ one _ dragon ball,” Goku tugged a cord on his shirt, pulling out the dragon ball hidden there. It was as if a switch had been flipped in Bulma’s brain, and she turned from a terrifying screeching banshee to a doting admirer in seconds. 

“ _Ohhh_ , how could I ever forget! My goodness, Goku! What a smart and wonderful boy you are! Protecting the dragon ball like that!” She flung her arms around him and smothered the boy with hugs and kisses, even as he squirmed and protested noisily. “Ugh, but how are we gonna get anywhere… Even with the dragon radar, we have to figure out how to follow them…”

“I might be able to help you there…” Chichi turned around, eyes widening at the sight of Yamcha, the bandit who had pulled her tail and knocked her out! A feral snarl distorted her face, the fur on her tail puffing out like that of a cat - speaking of her tail...she wrapped it around her waist. Hopefully, that would keep that creep from grabbing it again and doing whatever it was he had done to her and her tail before. Yamcha’s eyes widened in what, based on the smell of it, was fear. He threw his hands up in front of his face. “Wait! Wait, we’re here to help!”

“I don’t trust you!” she snarled, dark eyes narrowing as she advanced.    
“Hold up, you half-pint terror!” Bulma leapt between Chichi and Yamcha, windmilling her arms frantically. “I’m sure our  _ dear friend  _ Yamcha here is indeed here to help, aren’t you,  _ handsome _ ?” She winked, and Chichi frowned as the bandit’s cheeks lit up from under his brown skin. 

 

“I still don’t like it,” Chichi pouted in the incredibly cramped back seat of Yamcha’s car, squished between Goku and Oolong. Even Yamcha’s cat was sitting up front! “And why did I have to get the middle seat? I’m a princess, ya know!”

“If you say you’re a princess one more freaking time -”

“You’ll  _ what _ , Oolong?” Chichi snapped, turning her pent up aggression on the unfortunate piggy. Oolong grumbled something she failed to catch under his breath and turned away. “I  _ thought _ so.” 

“Shut up, you two! We’re almost there!”

 

“Now I  _ really _ don’t like it,” Chichi muttered, holding her tail to her mouth and nibbling on the edge of it. “No one has a castle you can just waltz right into like this. We’re walkin’ right into a trap.”   
“Maybe they’re just stupid,” Goku offered, walking in front of her. She frowned at the back of his head. 

“My money’s on  _ trap _ ,” she muttered, popping the tip of her tail back in her mouth and sucking on it. The fur would get stuck in her teeth, of course, and it would take her over an hour to get it all out later, but for now, chewing on the tip of her tail was grounding. 

“You have money?” Goku dropped back to walk with her, hands behind his head. “I thought everything you had was in all that rubble.”

“The Moon Monster just wrecked everything, it didn’t take anything,” she sighed, letting her tail slip down into its usual position. She frowned, trying to remember what stage the moon was going to be at that night. The Moon Monster only came out during the full moon… She did not have time to consider anything further, as the group came upon a series of arrows on the floor.  “We’re not following _those_ , are we? I mean, that seems really silly - _Goku_!” The boy had taken off, following the arrows, and the rest of the crew followed. Chichi suddenly found herself alone in the narrow corridor of the castle, and she fled after them. She would rather find herself in danger in the company of friends than be safe and alone in such a strange place. 

And strange place it was indeed. Chichi yelped and held her tail under her chin as a brand new wall behind her slammed down from the ceiling. They were trapped! 

_But not alone…_

"Welcome, Prisoners! I am Emperor Pilaf, soon to be master and lord of the entire world! Now, I believe you have something I want..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up Next on Dragon Ball C! Can Chichi, Goku, Bulma, Oolong, Yamcha, and Puar escape from Pilaf's clutches? Find out in the next chapter of DBC! 
> 
> "Make a Wish!"


	4. Make a Wish!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Moon Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deeply apologize for the length of time between chapters 3 and 4. I’d love to say, “I’m a grad student! I’m busy!” – which is true! But I also had enough time that I spent doing other things that could have been spent working on this. I can’t tell you how many times I would sit with this chapter up on my screen and just stare at it! It sucked. But, here it is! I’m working on Chapter Five currently!

“Greetings!” Chichi jumped and grabbed Goku’s arm as a wall on the opposite end of the trap lit up, a little blue face flickering into visibility. “I am Emperor Pilaf, and you have something that I want. Something that belongs to me!” Chichi wrestled with Goku’s arm as the boy tried to pull away from her. Was he working with the dog man? What was that thing? An alien? A demon?

"Belongs to you?" Bulma's voice grew shrill, well ex-cuuuse me! But we worked hard to get the dragon balls - if anything, they’re ours!” The gremlin’s face lit up.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho! Good, you do know what it is that I’m talking about; that makes things easier. Now, I know that you have the last ball with you, and you’ll be giving it to me. Then I’ll finally be able to realize my place as the Emperor of the World!” Goku leaned over to Chichi, whispering in her ear.

“Hey, is that a window we could break?”

“No,” she hissed, hadn’t he ever seen a tele-whatsit before?! To be fair, it was not as if she’d had one since the Moon Monster had gone and smashed everything… “That’s not a window…” But he had a good point...could they make a window? She did not know how… but her father had told her stories of throwing glowing balls of energy from the hand…

“We’re not giving you our dragon b- aaahh!” Chichi’s head whipped back around, pupils constricting, lips pulling back over bared fangs. “Ahhh! Yamcha, Goku!” A giant robotic hand had already snatched poor Bulma, sweeping her up into the ceiling. Before she could jump up after it, the trap doors closed. Chichi’s brows furrowed.

“Whaddaya think they’ll do to her?” Goku asked, as Bulma appeared on the screen. Yamcha shook his head, concern clear on his face.

“Prob’ly sumthin’ terrible,” Oolong moaned, covering his face. Puar squeaked, covering their face.

“Poor Bulma!” they wailed, latching onto Yamcha’s neck with their long tail. “I can’t watch!”

Chichi, however, found that she could. She scrambled up Yamcha’s side, clinging on despite his shout of surprise and his attempts to shake her off. Her tail floated out behind her, twirling to keep her balance as she teetered on top of Yamcha’s head.

“I’m just trying to watch!” she snapped, flicking him and Puar with her tail. Whatever the little blue garden gnome was doing, Bulma was not finding it at all intimidating. “Eew,” Chichi crinkled her nose, “did he just blow a _kiss_ at her?” How utterly crude! Bulma seemed to be making fun of their captors, blowing raspberries and… Suggesting things that sounded very inappropriate indeed. The ceiling opened up again, and Yamcha jumped, Chichi toppling off of his head and landing on Goku, his _Nyoi-b_ _ō_ smacking her in the face. Bulma was dropped into the mix just as Goku and Chichi disentangled themselves from one another, everyone ending up in a pile.

“You leave me with no choice!” Pilaf spluttered, creepy little face crunched up in a purplish blush. “Say ‘goodnight!’ and ‘goodbye’ to your dragon ball!”

“What’s he mean - “ Goku was abruptly silenced as a loud hissing filled the air, the room filling with smoke. “W’as…’e… me…” Chichi coughed, before starting to giggle, her head and lungs feeling funny. Dimly, she was aware of everyone one experiencing a similar reaction to the smoke…

 

When the group awoke, there was no way to know how much time had passed. No way to judge how long they had been unconscious.

“They took my Grandpa’s ball,” Goku’s voice wobbled ever so slightly, and Chichi’s brow crinkled as she watched him swipe the empty pouch over his eyes. She still did not understand the importance of these dragon balls to her traveling companions…but Goku’s reaction, at least, made sense. Sentimental value, she understood.

“Goku,” she touched his shoulder, “do you know how to make energy in your hands? My daddy’s told me about it but I’ve never seen it or tried it.”

“Huh?” Goku sniffled, sucking a long line of snot back up into his nostril. “Oh, you mean like this?” he drew his hands back to his hips, “ka…me…” Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, and Oolong made strangled noises, scooting as far away from Goku and Chichi as the small prison allowed, and Chichi thought she heard Bulma mumble something about Goku having no right to accuse _her_ of witchcraft if he was the one doing magic. She didn’t know what that meant, but kept her eyes focused on what Goku was doing. Maybe she could do it too…

“Ka...me…” she repeated, mirroring his position.

“Ha…me…” the energy building between Goku’s fingers grew, and Chichi followed suit, pleased to feel something hot burning in her fingers. “Ha!” Goku threw his hands forward, and the little ball turned into a stream of blue-white energy, shooting towards the wall of their cell. Chichi’s own smaller beam followed suit, sending pieces of brick and mortar flying, peppering the trapped group. Chichi did not bother to look, but if she had taken the time, she would have seen Bulma and Yamcha clinging to one another. “I don’t have the energy to make that happen again,” Goku slumped down on the floor, rubbing his head. Chichi panted, legs shaking and knees knocking together as she tried to remain on her feet. It taken more out of her than she had thought it possibly could.

“Wh-what was that?” she gasped, sweat trickling down her brow.

“My grandpa called it the _Kamehameha_.”

“Ka-me-ha-me-ha,” Chichi repeated, approaching the hole they had created, letting the word roll over her tongue. She examined their handiwork, disappointed by the size of the hole they had created. “Maybe we need more practice, Goku, because this hole is kinda la – hey!” Chichi yelped as Bulma pushed her to the side, jamming her face against the new opening.

“They have the dragon balls! All seven of them!” Bulma gasped, slapping her open hand against the wall, “oh my god, they’re summoning the Dragon! They’re summoning the Dragon! My wish!” she wailed, flopping back against the floor.

“Puar, do you think you can transform into anything to get through there?”

“You bet!” Puar squeaked, and with a poof they had turned into a very small bird, and shot out the hole in the wall.

“Oolong! Go with Puar!”

“What am I s’posed to do?” The unfortunate pig-man barely dodged a slap from Bulma before following Puar’s example. “Alright, alright!”

“What is HAPPENING?” Chichi yelled, trying to push past the older teens to look out the window. She was frustratingly unsuccessful. “MOVE, BLOOMERS!” Chichi shoved Bulma’s thigh, hard, and finally managed to topple the older girl over. She managed to look out the hole in time to see a magnificent dragon roaring against a pitch-black sky, before disappearing… revealing a full moon.

 

It was Goku who noticed it first.

“Ch-Chichi?” Goku had his eyes on Chichi, watching her rigid tail. It was standing straight out behind her, the hair on end, frizzy. Her posture was unnaturally still. “Bulma!” Chichi’s shoulders buckled, and her tail began to lash violently from side to side.

“What’s wrong with this kid?” Bulma’s eyes widened, fear evident on her face. “Snap out of it, Kiddo!” She reached out a hand to touch Chichi’s shivering shoulder, and Goku felt his stomach drop. His blood felt cold under his skin. There was something…very, very wrong about this.

“Is it a full moon?” Something tingled in his brain. Something about the moon.

“Yeah why – Ahhh!” Bulma screamed and leapt back, colliding with Yamcha as Chichi’s eyes glowed red, her face crinkling in a feral snarl. A vicious roar ripped through her body, her helmet falling off of her head as she inverted her spine, her armor popping off of her changing form. Thick, dark fur sprouted from her skin, her face elongating, fangs growing from a few inches to a few feet in length. The walls crumbled as her shoulders hit them, the ceiling falling down around them. Goku snatched Chichi’s fallen helmet, donning it to protect his head from the cascade of rubble.

“She’s the Moon Monster!” Goku, Bulma, and Yamcha darted outside through the ruined walls, screaming as the giant-gorilla-monkey-monster that was also somehow sweet little Chichi rampaged through the castle yard. Walls and towers shattered, bricks practically vaporized as Chichi the Moon Monster punched the doomed structure. She threw back her head and roared, beating her chest.

Dimly, Goku was aware of their captors screaming and scrambling to climb into a small airplane. He lost track of them as Chichi’s great feet stomped, sending shockwaves through the ground, launching the unfortunate group into the air.

“What are we gonna do? I’m too young to die-hiiie!” Bulma wailed, clinging to Yamcha. “Goku, shoot her with that blast-thing you did earlier! Hurry!”

“But she’s our friend!” Goku yelled back, scrambling to his feet, brain racing in search of a solution. “I can’t hurt her!”

“She’s going to kill us!”

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing!” he protested, even as he calculated how much energy he had left to attempt another _Kamehameha_. Yamcha yelled to Puar and Oolong, and the two shaping animals managed to stop screaming to hear him.

“I have an idea – Puar, can your turn into a giant pair of scissors? Get close enough to cut off her tail?”

“Cut off her tail?” Goku echoed, brow screwing up in confusion. “Why would that work?”

“I don’t know if it will,” Yamcha’s voice was grim, “just a hunch!”

Puar squeaked an affirmative, zipping closer to the rampaging monster, dodging Chichi’s swinging fists. “Goku, do something to draw her attention away from Puar!” Goku shouted in affirmation, leaping forward and screaming wildly and waving his arms. The Moon Monster roared, sweeping her giant hand at him. He jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the fist that moved the air around him fast enough to carry him farther than what should have been possible.

He prepared for another run past the Monster, but the Monster had frozen. She was stock still, and then, as if in slow motion, she was falling forward, even as she shrunk. Before he could fully process it, a very small, very naked, very _tail_ -less Chichi was on the ground in front of him.

“I-is she dead?” he reached behind him, pulling out his _Nyoi-b_ _ō_ and poking the still form of his friend with it. She groaned, but did nothing more. Not dead then. “What did the tail do?”

Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, and Oolong all approached. Dirty, dust, and mud was apparent on all of them.

“I guess my hunch worked,” Yamcha pursed his lips, removing the green scarf around his neck and gently draping it over Chichi. “I bumped into her a while back – ‘round the same time as you all did, I suppose. I pulled her tail to get away from her and she passed out.”

Bulma knelt beside the unconscious Chichi, adjusting Yamcha’s scarf.

“Goku, gimme your gi top and belt. Then you boys go over there while I get her covered up…”

 

It was several hours later that Chichi woke up, rubbing her eyes, blinking in the sun.

“Wh-what happened?” she yawned, sitting up and looking around. “’Ow come no body woke me up? How’d we get out?” Her clothes felt different. Wrong. Chichi’s brows furrowed as she looked down, patting the odd clothes. “Where’s my armor?” had she been in a different state of mind, it may have embarrassed her that her voice came out in a wail. Her father had made that for her!” Chichi scrambled to her feet as Goku and the others came running over. Goku had her helmet on his head, shiny blue plates in his hands. She gasped, rushing forward, and falling flat on her face. Her eyes watered, and she bit down on her lip, telling herself not to cry, _don’t cry, Chichi!_

“I’ve got your helmet, and most of your armor, Chi!” Goku set it all gently down and helped her to her feet. “The um, the Moon Monster showed… Showed up… and broke the castle and kicked them all or somethin’, but then it uh, it ran away…” Chichi scrunched up her face as she examined her armor. The leather tongs holding it together were shredded. “You got um, you got hurt as it showed up…” Something in Goku’s story just was not adding up…but she did not have the energy to think about it just yet.

“I don’t remember it showing it up…” she picked at the skirt – she recognized it as Yamcha’s scarf. She wanted her shorts.

“You were knocked out right away. None of us saw it coming,” Bulma’s hand touched her shoulder, and she was acutely aware of the fact that she had on Goku’s orange gi shirt. She looked like a pumpkin, wearing green and orange. “But hey! That Pilaf guy didn’t get to make a wish to take over the world!” Chichi sniffed, and looked up at Bulma’s smiling face, “and it turns out I didn’t need the dragon balls to find a boyfriend after all, isn’t that right, Yamcha?” If they were in a comic book, Chichi thought that Bulma’s words would have been punctuated by drawings of hearts. _Gross_. Yamcha and Bulma giggled and tittered; Chichi crinkled her nose, and saw Goku doing the same.

“They’re weird,” the boy laughed, sitting down beside her and helping her to organize her armor. “Say, now that we’re done huntin’ dragon balls for at least a year, whaddaya say to coming with me to go train with the Old Timer Turtle-man?”

Chichi grinned at Goku, her eyes lighting up at the prospect.

“Go train with the Venerable Master, Roshi of the Turtle School?” she grinned, “you bet I’m coming!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, on Dragon Ball: C – Chichi and Goku arrive at the Turtle School to train with Master Roshi, and meet a new friend! What other adventures await our heroes? Find out, in the next chapter of… DBC!


	5. The Formative Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything between Pilaf and Piccolo 
> 
> Full Chapter Title: The Formative Years AKA We All Watched Dragon Ball Let’s Get to the Good Stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO my first internship was AMAZING and I loved it, but it understandably exhausted me. My second one is ¼ of the way through, and I’m loving it EVEN MORE than my first one, I just love kids, PLUS I get to play games and do arts and crafts all day long so I mean? Win-Win? Anyway. I know I dick around a lot on tumblr but let’s be real there’s a huge difference in effort needed to write a chapter of something and to hit the reblog button. But. Still. I don’t really have an excuse other than I really, really, really, didn’t want to deal with writing Dragon Ball. I had the best of intentions, including rewatching all of it, again, but my writing was suffering because so much was just that, a re-write. Sorry about the monologues and the time skips in this chapter, but HEY we all know what happened in Dragon Ball! Plus, this is MY self-indulgent fantasy. If it’s not mentioned, just assume it’s the same as in the series, just with Chichi taking Goku’s place, Goku takes Krillin’s, and Krillin just sort of keeps his role so there are TWO Krillin’s, and everyone else just sort of does the same thing they always have. Enjoy, and feel free to PM here on PickleAndTheQueen on Tumblr if you have questions :)
> 
> Shoutout to BreezyTealy for catching my slip up with the tail lol

 

Chichi and Goku soared over the ocean atop the strange golden cloud, the _kinto’un_. It carried them effortless over the waves towards the island home of the Turtle Hermit. She held Goku’s belt with a continually relaxing grip; just under an hour ago, she had nearly tore a hole in his pants with a white-knuckled grip. The idea of a cloud being able to support them was unfathomable, but it was working, and she was growing accustomed to the situation.

“Do you know where we’re goin’, Goku?” Chichi called over the breeze, and Goku turned his head to call over his shoulder.

“Kinto’un does!”

Chichi pouted, puckering her lips. First the cloud could support their weight, and now it knew where to go without guidance? She chewed her lip, supposing that there were stranger things in the world…

 

“I’m not helping some old pervert look at girls’ panties,” Chichi crinkled her nose, glowering at the two boys standing in front of her.

“He didn’t say he wanted to look at underwear,” Goku tilted his head to the side, dark hair flopping over his forehead. Chichi crossed her arms, turning her gaze on Krillin, the bald boy who had arrived on Roshi’s island shortly after them. Krillin turned scarlet and avoided her eyes.

“Krillin here brought gross magazines with naked women in them. My daddy _never_ mentioned anything like this happening while _he_ trained with Master Roshi.” If she hadn’t lost her tail, it would have been lashing about. She was still wearing Goku’s blue gi top as a dress as she had yet to find time to fix her armor. Even if it looked ridiculous, she felt naked without the helmet, and had it jammed down over her head. “It’s bad enough he accepted dirty magazines to consider Krillin as a pupil, but a _real live girl?_ ”

“You’re a girl aren’t you?” Goku and Krillin yelped and ducked the blade she threw at them. “Well you are!” Goku wailed from the beach, spitting sand out of his mouth. “How come Master Roshi wants a different girl?”

“Idiot! Chichi’s a girl, not a _Girl_ . The Venerable Master wants a _Girl_ , not a girl.” Krillin uncovered his shiny round head, the yellow of his gi top almost blending in with the sand.

“I don’t get it.”

“And that, Sonny, is why you can sit on that fancy little cloud, and Krillin here can’t, hehehehehe. You’re right though.” Chichi rounded on the source of the voice, spying Roshi in the doorway. She glowered at the old man, whose only reaction was to smirk, beard twitching with the motion.

 

* * *

_And so Chichi, Goku, Krillin, and a strange girl called Launch spent the next year living under the Turtle Hermit. The three rising martial artists underwent an odd, grueling training that, at times, did not seem much like training at all. However, there came a day when the monolithic boulder Master Roshi used as a judge of their strength was no longer a challenge to move. Their strength was undeniable, and, in the light of their youth, seemed immeasurable. Sooner than it seemed possible, the Venerable Master declared it time to test their mettle against more experienced martial artists in the Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament._

* * *

“Hey, Goku,” Chichi nudged him as the trudged their way slowly through the line, the overwhelming heat of those around them causing sweat to trickle uncomfortably down her neck. The rules of the tournament has specifically forbidden protective gear and weapons of any kind, so she had traded her armor in for Turtle School gi for the event. She looked down at the orange, picking at the sigil stitched into the fabric, “do you think we’re really ready for this sort of thing?”

“Roshi seems to think so,” Goku shrugged, his face split in half by a massive, crooked-tooth grin, “and if he thinks so, I think so! Right, Krillin?”

The bald boy was sweating, and based on the stink of it, it was more than just the oppressive heat.

“I don’t think Master Roshi would send us, uh, if we weren’t, uh, ready. Y’know?” Krillin swallowed, and Chichi wondered if he had swallowed a rock.

 

* * *

 

_Chichi, Goku, and Krillin came in second, third, and fourth respectively. Chichi lost to the mysterious Jackie Chun in the final round, only to “miss” the arrival of the Moon Monster… The day, and the crowd, was saved thanks to Jackie Chung’s quick-thinking, although Earth’s tidal patterns were drastically altered in response to the moon’s destruction… Following the tournament, Chichi, Goku, and Krillin went their separate ways to continue their training on their own at Roshi’s encouragement. Goku and Krillin set off together, but the homesick Chichi returned to the Ox Kingdom to reunite with her father. The friends promised to meet again at the next tournament in three years. In the time that passed between tournaments, Chichi single handedly destroyed the Red Ribbon Army after a battalion attempted to overrun the Ox Kingdom… All seemed peaceful, but the itch for adventure, once stirred, is not so easily scratched._

* * *

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the tournament, Daddy?” Chichi admired herself in the mirror, fidgeting with the unfamiliar clothes she wore. She wished the tournament rules would allow for her wear her armor, if only because it was comfortable, familiar. But, the blue gi was fine. Sure, it was nothing _special_ , but she had made it by hand and it would do. Chichi had spent the last week figuring out how to incorporate the Ox symbol on it, finally managing to sew a patch on the chest. A small cut sliced horizontally across the back of the pants had allowed for her tail to slide through and freely wave behind her. It had grown back at some point, she could not pinpoint exactly when, in the last three years, it had reappeared. Perhaps while she was tearing apart that terrorist organization. Either way, there was no point in thinking too much about it. It was back, and that was that. She tightened the ribbon holding her hair in place, adjusting the way it sat on the top of her head, fussing. Afterall, and her stomach fluttered, she hadn’t seen Goku in _three years!_ What would he look like? Would he be tall? Still have that boyish charm? She hid her burning face in her hands, vainly trying to drive the image in her head away, “don’t get your hopes up, he’s probably a dork.”

The tip of her tail twitched as her ears and the soles of her feet registered the approach of her father. She twirled to face him, beaming up at him and throwing her arms as far as she could around his abdomen.

“Ho ho ho! Well now, My Princess, don’t you look fierce!” Ox’s massive hand formed around her head, temporarily flattening her hair down. She gazed up into her father’s bearded face, registering the regret in his eyes. “I do wish I could come, Chichi my dear, but after that mess over the summer, I’m afraid I just can’t leave the kingdom.” She leaned into the embrace, closing her eyes and breathing in the safe scent of her father; woodsmoke, dust, and sweat, she was loath to leave it behind.

“I’m going to miss you,” she mumbled, voice muffled in his leather tunic.

“It shall only be a few days, my love!” Ox laughed, his booming voice shaking her room. “Now go, go and bring glory home to our kingdom!”

* * *

 

“I don’t see Chichi anywhere,” Goku jumped up and down, using the top of Krillin’s head as a launch pad as he tried to spot Chichi over the heads of the other tournament hopefuls. “Where is she?! She’ll miss registration at this rate. She promised she was coming. You think she’s okay?” He had grown, towering over Krillin - although that was not much to brag about, considering Krillin had managed to grow a few inches, whereas Goku had shot up like dandelions after a good rain.

“I’m sure she’s fine, now get off you great lump!” Krillin waved him away, “I’m not a diving board _or_ a trampoline!”

“Aw geez, Krillin, I’m just real excited to see how strong she’s got, that’s all! I think I can beat her though. We’ve been trainin’ real hard!”

He missed Krillin’s eye roll. And ignored the sideways glances from all the other competitors.

“Gee, Goku, I never noticed! It’s not like we weren’t training together an’ all.”

Goku punched Krillin on the shoulder, laughter building in his chest.

“Hey, is that Goku? _Goku_ ? _Krillin_? Hey, guys! It’s us!”

“Yamcha! Bulma! Puar! Oolong! _He--ey_ guys!”

Yamcha sported a new haircut what might have been a new scar, Goku found he couldn’t quite remember. “Have ya guys seen Chichi yet?”  
“No I haven’t -”

“Hey! Hey guys! _Goku_ , it’s me! Krillin, Yamcha, everyone!”

Chichi found herself swept off her feet as Goku bounded over to her, throwing his arms around her middle and squeezing her.

“Fer a minute there we weren’t sure you were gonna make it! Oh, quick, quick get to registration, otherwise you won’t be allowed to compete! Can’t wait to see how strong you’ve got, Chich! I’ve been trainin’ real hard though - Krillin too!” 

* * *

 

“Hey, Chichi, who’s that sour-faced looking guy with the extra eye givin’ you such a nasty look?” Chichi paused mid slurp, noodles hanging from her mouth to turn her head in the direction Goku was pointing. Her brow furrowed as she spotted the surly looking stranger, and something wiggled around her brain, poking at her memories. She swallowed, the noodles disappearing down her throat.

“I don’t recall ‘m,” she admitted, wiping her mouth on the back of her arm, but careful to avoid touching her sweatbands. Last thing she needed during a fight was to get sriracha in her eyes.

“He sure is mean-lookin’,” Goku tried to steal a hunk of pork from her bowl while her eyes were elsewhere, but she slapped his wrist with her chopsticks.

“I probably beat him up,” she shrugged, wondering if he were connected to any of those good-for-nothing Red Ribbon people. “I beat up a lot of people in the past three years.”  
“For training?”  
“Sometimes.”

 The preliminary fights passed quickly.

“I hope I get to fight Jackie Chung again,” Chichi watched as the old man easily dispatched an opponent. She was clear to the end already. “I think I can beat him this year.”

“Yeah, well, whattabbout that creepy guy with the three eyes?”

“Wouldju quit lookin’ at him?” Chichi elbowed Goku hard in the side, “so what if he’s creepy? I’ll kick his ass later in the ring if I needa.”

Chichi’s dark eyes followed other tournament hopefuls around, sizing up the competition. Triclops was going to be the one to beat, by the looks of it. She was unsure of what to make of his little vampire-looking companion, but Krillin had decided early on that he did not care for even-shorter fighter.

“Can’t believe _he_ has the nerve to call _me_ bald! What with one measly hair on his head - _grrr_.”

“Don’t you shave _and_ wax?” Chichi picked at dirt under her nails, frowning at her chipped polish. Sure, it hadn’t been a real manicure, but the pink polish had been quite cute. Her index finger scraped a line from her thumbnail. There were no rules against gloves. Perhaps she could upgrade her gi for the next tournament to include some gloves… Her thoughts were interrupted as the tournament gong rang, drawing everyone’s attentions to the leaderboard… And the _real_ tournament was on!

 “You and me, huh?” Chichi tightened her ponytail, grinning across the ring to where Goku bounced on the balls of his feet. Her blood roared through her veins as her heart hammered in her chest, beating a constant rhythm under her ribs. This was to be an excellent fight!

“Sure looks like it!” He swung his arms around, smacking his hands against his scapulae. “Oughtta be a pretty good rematch, dontcha think, Chich? But I gotta tell ya, I’ve been training awful hard!”

Chichi squared her stance, tail lashing behind her as the announcer called for the start.

“Don’t hold out on me, Goku.”

Her hands dropped to her hips, blue energy sparking between her fingers, and a feral grin creased her face as she saw Goku doing the same.

“I don’t believe it, folks! Now we have a fight. Contestants Chichi and Goku are evenly matched, both charging some sort of energy blast attack! It’s blinding folks! _Ohhhh_! It seems Contestant Son Goku has unleashed his, how will Chichi dodge this? Can she dodge - I DON’T BELIEVE IT, FOLKS, CONTESTANT CHICHI HAS EVADED GOKU’S ATTACK AND SIMULTANEOUSLY LAUNCHED HER OWN!”  Gasps from the crowd punctuated the announcer’s screeching as Goku and Chichi clashed in the ring, his roaring into the mic masking their screams. Chichi landed a blow to Goku’s abdomen, and he one to the back of her knees. Chichi rolled to her feet, springing forward and punching Goku in the jaw. “Son Goku has taken a hit to the jaw - we have blood, folks! Oh, but Chichi takes damage to the left arm - but it’s not slowing her down, folks. No, sir! Oh! I don’t believe it, Contestant Goku is down! What a hit! Chichi has taken down Goku with a single blow to the chest.”

“Pff, more like two kicks and a punch,” Chichi huffed as she was announced the winner. The moment it was official, she stooped to help Goku to his feet.

“Wow,” Goku rubbed his chest, leaning against her as she helped him back to the sidelines. “That was a lot of fun, Chichi. I can’t believe how fast you got! Great fight.”  
“You too, Goku,” Chichi may have said more, but they walked past the three eyed man, and she had figured out exactly why he and his strange little friend were giving her such dirty looks. And, based upon the earlier matches, she only had a few minutes to recover before facing him. 

Tenshinhan of the Crane School.

“You’re the one who killed Tao Pai-Pai.” It was not a question.

“I already toldja I did,” Chichi was acutely aware of how little she had apparently grown in the last three years. At least she was taller than Goku. Tenshinhan seemed a giant, despite being close to her age. The princess puffed out her chest, glaring up at him. “What’s it to ya?”

Tenshinhan grimaced, raising his hands in front of his face, fingers curled, light on this toes, his knees. The very tip of Chichi’s tail quivered, her hair standing on end. The announcer’s voice cut through the tension as a katana slices through flesh.

“FIGHT!”

 “They’re almost too quick to follow, folks! This promises to be an exciting match all around. Ah, it seems Chichi of the Ox Kingdom has taken a severe blow! She’s dow - no, she’s back up on her feet!” The crowd erupted into a harsh cacophony of cheers and boos as Chichi slammed her fist straight up into Tenshinhan’s jaw. The crunch was audible as the three-eyed man cracked a tooth and fractured his jaw. He staggered back, and Chichi pounced, only to be knocked to the ground by a vicious kick.

“Despite that harsh blow, Chichi is back on her feet - but what’s this? She isn’t moving? It seems Contestant Chichi is frozen in fear!” 

It wa not fear. Chichi struggled to break loose of the fog preventing the signals from her brain from reaching her muscles. She couldn't even scream. Breathing was about all she could do. What was happening? Was Tenshinhan behind this? If it was part of his power, was it cheating? Her chain of thought was interrupted as Tenshinhan sent her flying to the edge of the ring from a blow she saw coming from miles away. The sting of the concrete against her cheek, gearing away at her skin, was enough to shake her free of the stillness. 

If only for a moment.

She saw Tenshinhan, his face contorted in rage, starting off of the ring and into the crowd. She couldn't turn her head enough to see just who was the recipient of his bile, but she could hear the announcer and crowd jeering them on.

With a yelp, Chichi toppled forward; she managed to tuck and roll to her feet. Heart hammering in her chest, Chichi settled into a defensive back stance, ready respond to the next threat. Instead, Tenshinhan remained motionless.

“We shall have no more interruptions. This shall be a fair fight from now until the end.”

Her brow furrowed, but the sincerity… it was genuine.

“And Tenshinhan wins by Ring Out! An incredibly exciting match for sure. Contestant Chichi, two times the runner up, gave him a run for his money, but it is Tenshinhan who goes home with the big bucks and the pride of being crowned this year's Strongest Under the Heavens! Congratulations, Contestant Tenshinhan!”

“I apologize for my friend’s actions during our match,” it was Tenshinhan, and his odd little companion. Chichi looked up from her satchel, squinting at them, long simian tail swishing.

“S’okay, I guess. I wasn't strong enough to beat ya anyways.” She sniffed, and was pleased to see that both Tenshinhan and his companion were looking quite shamefaced. “You two wanna come to dinner with me an’ my friends?” 

“Oops! Looks like I forgot my Nyoibo and the dragon ball at the tournament grounds!” Goku laughed, face flushing with what Chichi had to assume was embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head, ruffling his dark hair and she felt her stomach turn over and tie itself in knots. “I’d better go back and get ‘em! Save me a bite at dinner, eh, Chich?” His bright eyes met hers, and her face flushed.

“You’ve got it, Goku!”

He threw his arms around her, and for moment she was thirteen again.

“You’re the best, Chichi!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA if I ever wanted to progress this fic I decided to skip all the stuff I didn’t want to write. Normally, I would have tried to push through, but considering my update rate has 1 chapter every three to four months? Nah. Anyway. Sorry about cutting out half of Dragon Ball, including some pretty important stuff, but, hey. I needed to crank this out and I want to write what excites me...which is (unfortunately….?), Piccolo.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you’re looking forward to in this reimagining!
> 
>  
> 
> NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL C: THE MARK OF THE DEMON KING! AND THE DEATH OF---??!! Tune in next time (in less than four months, I swear) to find out in the next chapter of Dragon Ball C!
> 
> ALSO HAPPY PICCOLO DAY >:}


	6. THE MARK OF THE DEMON KING! AND THE DEATH OF---??!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Tambourine, Cymbal, and Piccolo Daimao (also Yajirobe is there).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to CreamSodaBubbles on the DBZ Authors' Discord for Beta'ing this chapter for me last night. 
> 
> Content Warning for some mildish-moderatish gore towards the end of the chapter.
> 
> Listen. It was not FOUR months this time. ;)
> 
> Here’s Chapter 6, featuring the introduction to the most badass character to ever grace the series, Piccolo Daimao. I love Piccolo Daimao. And his horrible spawn. And most of all I love his second coming, his most famous progeny. The little shit we all know and love as Piccolo Junior.

_The best._ That’s what she told her. _He’d called her the best_. And yet she had failed to save him. She couldn’t even avenge him! She was falling, falling so, so far. Her wild plummet sent her crashing through the canopy of trees far below. The branches cracked beneath her, breaking her fall even as they flipped her head over heels, slowing her uncontrolled descent towards the unforgiving earth.

_Goku… I’m so sorry…_

His _Nyoi-bō_ was strapped to her back, taken with her from his corpse. It should have stayed so it could be burned with him. She shouldn’t have taken it with her, so far out into the middle of nowhere after his killer, that demon Tambourine.  Now no one would find it. Or her…

Chichi awoke to the sensation of something nudging her foot. She groaned, smacking her face with her hands as she covered her eyes. She rubbed her face and tried to sit up.

“Oh, you’re alive? Bummer.”

Chichi managed to push herself up, blinking as she tried to focus on the person talking, her vision swimming. The stranger was a broad, flabby boy with more hair than she had ever seen on someone her own age - or at least close to it.

“And wha’s sucha bummer ‘bout that?” Chichi snapped, vision continuing to spin.  “What, were y’plannin’ to eat me?”

“Pretty much,” the hairy boy deadpanned, frowning at her. He was holding Goku’s _Nyoi-bō_.

“Hey!” Chichi rolled forward onto her feet, springing forward in a lunge. “That isn’t yours!”

She missed, unable to focus on her target. Hairy yelled, dropping the _Nyoi-bō_. She snatched it up off the ground, pointing it at him. Her eyes were beginning to cooperate once more. “What’s your name?”

“Name’s Yajirobe, what’s it to ya?”

“I’d just like t’know yer name is all, ‘specially considerin’ you were seriously thinking of eatin’ me!” Chichi slowly lowered the _Nyoi-bō_ as it became apparent that Yajirobe was not going to pursue her as lunch. “My name is Chichi, Princess of the Ox Kingdom.”

Yajirobe’s thick eyebrows shot up his forehead, disappearing under his shock of dark hair.

“Ox Kingdom?” Chichi nodded, tail flicking down by her ankles, trailing over the leaves on the forest floor. “Didn’t know there was a Princess of the Ox Kingdom.”

“Well there is, and she’s me.” Chichi holstered the _Nyoi-bō_ , staring haughtily up at Yajirobe. The hairy boy snorted.

“Whatever. I’m gonna find something good t’eat, since yer not an option, I’m outta here.” As he turned to leave, something orange gleamed around his neck. Chichi’s eyes widened.

_A dragon ball._

“Hey!” She leapt in front of him, blocking his exit. “That thing around your neck.” Dragon balls were the whole reason her best friend was dead. “Give it to me.” Yajirobe stared down at her, beady little eyes narrowing. “There’s a monster, a demon called Tambourine who’s killin’ people to get those orbs.”

“Yeah right, like I’m gonna believe that.” Yajirobe snorted, “more like it’s valuable and you want it for yourself.” He tucked the ball under his shirt. Chichi’s lip curled in a feral snarl.

“You have no idea what you’re messing with. But I know the demon will be back to get that dragon ball. And he doesn’t _believe_ in mercy.” Yajirobe tried to push past her, but Chichi bounced along behind him. “Guess I’m coming with ya.”

“Like hell you are!” But he could not outrun her, and gave in to her company.

* * *

 

Halfway across the planet, floating just above the clouds, an airship loomed over Earth. In it, the three unfortunate members of the Pilaf Empire cowered before a monstrous creature with wrinkled, weathered skin the color of grass in the early autumn, patched with yellow. The creature had long, pointed ears with drooping lobes falling almost to its sloping shoulders. Bags of skin melted from once powerful jaws, sunken eyes with yellowed sclera surrounded clouded irises and pupils sat deep within the elongated skull. Even shrouded in old age, archaic and rheumy, _Piccolo Daimao_ radiated malice and power. His evil gaze trained on Pilaf, staring as if through the would-be world emperor.

“We, uh, we have located another dragon ball, Your Exaltedness,” Pilaf stammered, indicating a blinking light on the scanner. “Here, in this area.”

“I shall sssend my son, my _Cymbal…_ ”

* * *

The unwilling duo trudged through the forest, Yajirobe grumbling the entire time.

“I’m not giving you this - whatever the hell it is - just because you’re tellin’ tales.”

“Fine, it’s your funeral,” Chichi replied around a mouthful of an apple she had found. She took another bite; it was sour and left an aftertaste, but food was food, and she was hungry. She trotted alongside her unhappy companion, tossing the apple core over her shoulder, Yajirobe doing the same with his own. It glanced off of her hair. Chichi snarled at him, “I’ll make ya regret that, you -” She dove to the earth as branches and leaves crashed down onto them, and a thunderous roar, followed by a deep belly laugh filled her ears.

 _Tambourine_ ! No - she caught sight of the creature. _This_ demon was new. It was round and fat, its scales the same ugly shade of green as Goku’s murderer. Where Tambourine was batlike, this beast appeared more like some mutant dinosaur.

“Gimme that dragon ball.”

Chichi sprang to her feet, drawing the _Nyoi bō_ from its holster. She prepared to leap in front of Yajirobe, to attack the demon, but the boy held out his hand.

“Nah, I’ve got this.”

Chichi gawked at him, spluttering for a moment before she found her words.

“You’re joking! No! His buddy _killed_ my best friend!” She gesticulated frantically at the beast, who sneered, thick brows furrowing in what may have been confusion. The demon leered at the two teens, dragonish head cocking to the side.

 

Cymbal watched, half fascinated, half irritated, as they began to play rock paper scissors.

“I don’t much care which of ye fights me, I’ll kill ye both soon enough.” He wanted to get on with it. Afterall, it wasn’t _just_ this hairy boy’s dragon ball he was after!

Cymbal’s prey rounded on him simultaneously, shushing him. The demon blinked, jaw dropping open. The very nerve of it! Hushing him?! A son of _Piccolo Daimao_? “You’re playing it wrong!” He snapped, instead of yelling at them for the rudeness. “Everyone knows that dynamite always wins!” But it seemed that fat boy had won, as he readied himself for the fight.

Cymbal leered down at him. This was going to be too easy.

Or so he thought.

 

“Welp, time to get my dinner,” Yajirobe settled down into a fighting stance, Chichi dropped back, prepared to jump in should her skills be needed.

Almost immediately, the demon charged a ki blast betwixt his claws. The girl’s eyes widened, the fur on her tail bristling.

“Yajiro-”

“Dance, you hairy beast, dance,” the demon cackled as he fired the ball of electric energy at Yajirobe, who howled as he was caught up in it. Chichi drew the _Nyoi-bō_ , but before she could dive in and brain the demon, it was over. While her attention was focused on the demon, Yajirobe had drawn the katana from his side, and sliced the demon in half.

 

Cymbal gurgled, his claws grabbing at his stomach, watching in pained surprise as his organs spilled from his gut, landing in fleshy ropes on the ground. Purple blood shot from his arteries, soaking his killer. Dimly, he was aware of his sire howling in agony, in anguish.

And then his soul was ripped from his body.

* * *

Piccolo clutched his chest, spittle flying from his chapped lips as he roared, yellowed fangs clicking together to punctuate his pain.

“Cymbal is dead,” he gasped, gnarled knuckles turning celery-white as he dug his claws into his robe, puncturing the fabric. “Who? Who could have killed my dear Cymbal?” He swatted Piano away from him, “vengeance. No one will harm one of the Demon Clan and escape scot-free! No one! _Tambourine_!”  

* * *

“You shouldn’t eat that!” Chichi, standing upwind of Yajirobe’s fire, scolded her companion. “You don’t know where it’s been! _And_ it’s a demon! What if you become a demon by eatin’ him?”

Yajirobe snorted and continued roasting hunks of demon flesh over the open flame. Chichi glowered him, willing him to feel the vehemence in her eyes. If he did, he never looked over to her. She tried a new tactic. “Doesn’t feel at least a little bit wrong to eat something that talked?”

“I’ll bet all animals talk, we just can’t always understand them.” Yajirobe poked at the steak, taking a curious nibble. “Tastes like baby dinosaur, just juicier. Want a piece?”

She stuck her tongue out him. “Suit yourself.”

“Can’t I least have your dragon ball? Now that you know those demons are after them?”

“No.” He turned the larger hunk of roasted demon on the spit. “Sure made it sound like these so-called demons were a lot stronger than this guy. I can handle ‘em.”

“ _UuurrrGH_ !” Chichi stomped her foot, hands curled into fists and rigid at her sides, tail lashing like a cat’s. “ _I_ **_need_ ** _that dragon ball to bring Goku back!_ ”

That, apparently, was cause enough for Yajirobe to look up. She silently cursed herself for the slip.

“You mean this little ball can bring back your dead friend?”

“No…” She crossed her arms, her tail wrapping around her waist like a belt. Chichi closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling through her nose. “You need all seven. You have one, the two star ball. Tambourine has the four star ball, at least. I don’t know if he managed to get any other ones. Once you have all seven, you place them all together and call out _‘Shenron, Eternal Dragon, by your name I summon you. Come forth and grant my wish.’_ Then the balls all light up and a big dragon comes out of ‘em and growls at you to hurry up and make a wish so he can return to his slumber.”

Yajirobe stared at her for a moment, then pulled out the two star ball from under his shirt, and examined it closely. She wondered what he would say now. Would he believe her?

“Sounds like a load of bullshit,” he grunted, and tucked the ball back under his shirt. She could have face-planted in the dirt.

“That’s it? _That’s_ your reaction to being told the story of the seven mystical dragon balls? I’ve seen it happen! I’ve been there to see wishes be granted.”

“Sounds like someone slipped you some mushrooms,” Yajirobe shrugged, reaching for a third steak.

“Mushr - wh - no!” Chichi spluttered, stomping in front of him and blocking the trajectory of his arm. “It’s true! And I’ve _never_ _had_ hallucinogenic mushrooms!”

“That you know of.”

“You!”

But a shadow fell over them for the second time that day. Tambourine’s cruel laugh made her blood run cold.

The demon beat his wings, knocking Yajirobe over and blowing out his fire, leaving nothing but a gust of hot air and the stench of charred meat.

“You’ll pay dearly for disgracing and violating my blood, hairy one,” Tambourine’s form was nothing but a silhouette as he blocked out the sun. Chichi felt his evil eyes land on her. “Eh?! I thought you were dead! I knocked you out of the sky!”

“Try harder!” Chichi snarled, leaping into the sky to attack her foe. Tambourine kicked her hard in the face, and she plowed through the packed earth.

“I shall, but first, I, faithful servant of the great _Piccolo Daimao_ , must avenge my brother, Cymbal.” Yajirobe tried to cut him in half like he had Cymbal, but Tambourine was too quick. He knocked the blade from Yajirobe’s hands. The boy yelped, attempting to kick or punch his assailant, but Tambourine was far smarter and stronger than Cymbal. Chichi dug her hands and feet into the ground, gritting her teeth and launching herself at the demon. Tambourine choked as she head butted him in the ribs. He staggered back, and Chichi leapt forward again, fangs bared.

“Die! _Die_ you monster!” Her fists connected with the demon’s face and neck, tears blurring her vision as the flesh yielded under her hands. “Give me back my friend!” She sobbed, feeling Tambourine’s teeth cut her knuckles. She continued to beat him long after he was dead. She beat him until the blood stopped flowing, and sat stagnant. She beat him until she could no longer lift her arms, until she could no longer breathe. And then she tried to wipe her eyes, smearing blue-black demon blood all over her face in some terrible mimicry of warpaint. She stared down at the ruined skull, leaking brains and cerebrospinal fluid and blood into the dirt. Her knuckles were bloody from destroying Tambourine’s face, crushing his skull. She thought she would feel better. Her breath hitched in her chest. She felt _nothing_.

Chichi threw back her head and wailed, tears cutting tracks through the blood.

“ _I just want Goku back!_ ”

Dimly, she was aware of Yajirobe dropping the dragon ball at her side.

“That guy was way too scary for me, if his buddies are gonna keep coming after it you can have it.”

She heard him walking away, but did not lift her head. She choked on snot, felt the sting of the demon’s blood in her eyes mingling with her salty tears. But there was no time to rest. Chichi looked up, gasping, as she sensed the oppressive, evil aura bearing down on the Earth from the skies.

 

 _Piccolo Daimao_ had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What horrors await our protagonist against the EVIL (incredibly sexy gdilf) Piccolo Daimao?!?!?! Find out in the next chapter of DRAGON BALL C! - THE VENGENCE OF DAIMAO


	7. VENGEANCE OF DAIMAO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on DBC! The Demon King Piccolo has been resurrected by the Pilaf Gang; Piccolo Daimao has sent his offspring to kill martial artists - including Goku! Chichi has met a strange new friend in Yajirobe, and managed to take revenge against Tamborine, but how will she fare against Daimao himself?! Find out…now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little shorter than I wanted it to be; my goal is always 2,000+ but this one is 1,183. Sorry it's short but it sets up nicely for the next one and I have a lot to do with school this week...

Goku’s death had marked the end of a relatively peaceful era. Bulma, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Roshi and the other sat in silence around the television. Bleak, horrible news of death, demonic happenings, and destruction blared from its squeaky little speakers, filling the air around them. Bulma had tears drying on her face, makeup smeared around her eyes, greying her skin.

One of the newscasts had confirmed what they all feared; Chichi of the Ox Kingdom had fallen. When the girl had failed to return, they had assumed the worst. She had been seen falling from the kinto un after the unfortunate little cloud was blasted from under her. 

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing!” Yamcha snarled, throwing his crutches across the room. 

“You can’t do anything else!” Bulma sobbed, lobbing a pillow at him, “you’re injured, and - and if those things’ve killed Goku and Chichi, and all those other martial artists, you don’t stand a chance in hell!” 

“None of y’do,” Roshi whistled, and Bulma thought it to be the most terribly sad sound she’d ever heard. She did not think a whistle could sound as depressing as the one Roshi uttered at that moment. “At least, not fighting in the typical, honorable way. Piccolo Daimao can only be defeated in one way, using the same technique that sealed him away for so many years.”

Across the room, Tenshinhan looked up, brows shading his eyes. The third looked especially odd without it. 

“And that technique is?”

Roshi said nothing for a long moment, eyes glinting from behind his red sunglasses. 

“You’re not to try it, m’boy. Oh no. I will be the one t’complete it, though I’ll appreciate yer help.”   
“Help with?”

“The Mafuba.” 

* * *

Chichi sprang to her feet, landing in a defensive stance as a massive airship descended over her. The evil energy was unlike anything she had ever felt. The air stuck in her lungs as the dark energy permeated the atmosphere, making it hard to breathe. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she ran a hand through her bangs, trying to slick them back over her hand.

Her heart tried to claw its way up out of her chest up into her throat, gagging her. Chichi stood, transfixed, as from the belly of the ship, Piccolo Daimao emerged. The demon towered over her, craggy face creased with age, and anger. Chichi took a step back, momentarily too frightened to consider fighting the monster in front of. Its long, bulbous head was wrinkled with age. It was colored a half-dead green, like grass in the autumn. The demon’s hideous appearance was only partially tamed by its obvious great age; it was the eyes. 

Black, swirling pools of fire. 

For a moment, her heart failed her. Then the demon sneered at her, and her resolve came flooding back, making her blood roar in her eats, crease her face in a snarl. 

“You! You’re the one who sent that monster to kill Goku!” The demon tilted his head he side, sagging skin wrinkling in new ways as gravity pulled upon it. 

“You have a dragon ball.” 

She bared her teeth, face contorting further. Daimao chuckled, “A warrior’s spirit, I see. Tis a pity, for whenever I come upon another martial artist, I feel the need to  _ slaughter _ them.” Lips pulled back over long, yellowed fangs. “You somehow managed to defeat my sons, my own creations.” He loomed over her, “I believe you shall find me a more challenging adversary.” 

“I’ll kill you like I killed your spawn, Slug Shit!” Chichi’s fist met Piccolo’s flat palm as he deflected her attack with the dignified grace of an ancient master. She tried a kick, meeting the same result. Another punch, feint left, right. She connected a hit to his sternum. Minimal effect. Think, Chichi, where would an old man be vulnerable? Hips. Knees. The joints. She screamed and slammed her shin into the ancient demon’s knee; Piccolo hissed, momentarily thrown off balance, but his clawed hand snatched her tail. Chichi screeched, ripping herself free before the temporary paralysis could set in. Such an event would be catastrophic. 

Perhaps it would have made what hit her next less painful. Daimao hit her with energy formed into lightning. 

It brought her to her knees, leaving her limbs tingling until long after he had let up the onslaught. 

She was not about let that happen again. Chichi shook her head, tail lashing behind her as she lunged. 

Fierce blows, far too fast for the untrained eye to follow, left abrasions, bruises, and welts over both combatants. Neither seemed to have the upper hand. Chichi panted, crouched a stone’s throw away from the felled demon, watching him through a blooming black eye as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

“I am impressed, Little One, the fact that there is anyone on this planet who can put my back on the ground…” he raised his lip at her, wiping blood from his lips, “well, not for long, Child.” 

Chichi bristled, ignoring the stinging pain radiating from fresh cuts. 

“You talk a big game for someone half in the grave, Old Man.” 

The demon’s eyes narrowed, and Chichi found herself dangling from Piccolo’s hand, long gnarled fingers squeezing her jaw. She could see the demon’s long fangs as he sneered at her. Well, she had fangs too. And she knew how to use them. 

Daimao howled as Chichi bit down hard on the web space between thumb and index fingers. She recalled hearing somewhere, as her fangs found bone, that the force necessary to bite through bone was about the same as that needed to crunch a carrot. Closing her eyes as Daimao slammed her again and again into the hard earth, sinking her teeth deeper into flesh and bone, hot blood leaving a salty, coppery taste on her tongue. Something gave, and it was not her teeth or jaw. Chichi hit the ground, spluttering and gagging on a fleshy chunk of bone. 

Daimao towered over her, a terrifying silhouette with glowing red eyes, blood spurting from his damaged hand. She had taken his knuckle and a piece of the proximal phalange of his left index finger. 

“You shall regret this occurrence, Child. Now prepare yourself. I have yet to use even half of my full strength.” 

“Well good, I was gettin’ bored,” she snapped, slicking her unruly hair back off of her face as she put distance between herself and the demon. Her dark eyes flickered up to the airship. Dimly, she could see several additional figures observing the fight. 

Well, the least she could do was give them some fireworks. Her hands pulled back to her hips, and she focused on pushing her energy from her stomach to her palms, until it burned and crackled to life, forming blue-white light between her fingers. Daimao’s face contorted in a horrified scream, but Chichi did not pause to question it as she threw all of her body weight and remaining energy into blasting the demon. 

“That,” she panted, knees shaking, tail brushing the ground, “that oughtta teach ya… _Slug Shit_.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME ON DBC - FIND OUT THE FATE OF OUR HEROES, OUR NEMESIS, AND. THE FATE. OF THE WORLD!   
> ALL THIS AND MORE, NEXT TIME, ON DBC.


	8. The Fate of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DKP Saga Wrap Up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the Delay.... But this is 1300~ words over my usual goal lol. Anyway... 
> 
> THE FATE OF THE WORLD IS DECIDED! TODAY!

Piccolo Daimao did not even wait for the smoke to clear. Chichi’s eyes widened as the demon materialized from the airborne debris. Too late, she moved to defend herself. The demon struck, lightning flying from his fingers, and Chichi had time for one cry of fear and pain before her world went dark. 

The demon stared down at the still, lifeless body on the ground before him, suspicious. If Piccolo had learned nothing else in his long life, it was that things were rarely as they seemed. And, he allowed himself a smirk as he slowly bent his aged knees, hips crackling, there were ways of cheating death. He touched the human adolescent’s neck, where her jaw met her neck, palpating the soft flesh there. No pulse. Humans could hold their breaths, but they could not stop their hearts. She was dead.  _ Good _ .

He rose slowly, trying to fool those above him in the airship into seeing grace instead of pain. Piano would see it, connected as they were by the bonds of spawn and sire. No matter. Piano was loyal to His Lordship. 

Piccolo Daimao. 

The demon threw back his bulbous head and laughed. He laughed until his ancient lungs could no longer fill themselves and his throat dried up and a coughing fit sent spittle flying from his cracked lips. He sneered down at the dead girl, and kicked her corpse. She had done more damage than he cared to admit. He squinted as he stomped down hard on her tail.

“I do not recall humans having tails,” he grumbled. “Disgusting, inferior creatures.” He rubbed his chest, feeling his age. He needed to find the rest of the dragon balls and restore himself to his youth before it was too late. 

Unbeknownst to Chichi and Piccolo Daimao, Yajirobe had not gone far. He crouched in the bushes, watching the fierce battle with wide eyes. Unlike Chichi, he had been told legends of the great demon.

“She did better’n I expected,” he mumbled to himself as Daimao ascended to his airship, leaving Chichi’s lifeless body with those unseeing, staring, blank eyes on the ground. He supposed he should bury her. It wouldn't be right to eat her after getting to know her, even if it was just barely. He was just about to come out of hiding when her tail twitched. His eyes widened, barely containing a scream as the corpse before him reanimated itself. Chichi’s fingers curled, then she rolled onto her side, face pinching in pain. She clutched her chest, hissing and thumping hard on the bones protecting her heart. Tears and sweat mingled on her reddening face. He could hear her teeth grinding as her body curled and straightened, curled and straightened. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” the girl finally managed, sitting up. “That really fucking hurt. Fucking slug shit with lightning fingers.” She vigorously rubbed her arms, but immediately toppled back over. 

“ _How did you survive?_ ” Convinced that she was not a zombie, despite looking like death warmed over, Yajirobe broke cover. “You're not dead.”

Chichi made a noncommittal noise, and he pursed his lips. “Better get you to a hospital.”

“Not, not a hospital. I need to see Master Karin, he’ll fix me up faster’n a reg’lar doctor can.” 

Yajirobe shook his head. 

“Nope, city with a hospital’s just a few minutes drive from here.”

Chichi’s eyes brightened, and Yajirobe felt, somehow, that he was screwed. 

“But Master Karin has special, magic food.” 

When Karin turned out to be a cat, and the magic food a bunch of tasteless beans followed by deadly poison passed off as a superpower-awakening water, he nearly threw the girl out of the tower. 

* * *

Roshi’s last stand failed. The old man’s life drained from his body as Daimao stood over him, cackling. Never mind that only moments before, he had been shaking in his boots, a mess with terror at the thought of being trapped at the bottom of the sea once again.

Tenshinhan had fought through the fog of Roshi’s paralyzing sleep-spray to bear witness to the doomed mission and his one time master’s demise. His fingers curled into fists in the dirt, getting grit caught under his nails and tearing the sensitive skin of his fingertips. Muscles trembled with the strain of trying to overcome the paralytic agent in his system. In all of his years, Tenshinhan had never felt so useless.

Daimao’s mirth subsided, and he waved his fingers. The seven mystical dragon balls swirled in the air before him before settling in a glowing circle at his feet. For a moment, he admired their masterful handiwork, before he caught sight of his wizened reflection in their shimmering surfaces. A chapped, cracked lip curled over yellowed fangs in a snarl of distaste. Well, it was an  _ easy _ fix. 

“Oh Great Lord of Dragons, Shenlong! By your name, I summon you! Come forth and grant my wish!” 

Shenlong filled the sky, staring down at Piccolo Daimao. Sinewy arms remained folded across his broad, but atrophied chest. The dragon’s great vermillion eyes blinked slowly, his beard fluttering against his neck. 

“It has been quite some time; I had nearly forgotten your face,” the dragon roared, his maw gaping with the words. “But no matter. What is your wish?”

Tenshinhan tried to crawl forward from his place in the cave.  _ Hurry, Chaozu, _ he projected,  _ it’s now or never!  _ His heart seized his chest, stomach twisting in fear for his dearest friend. 

“Eternal Dragon,” Daimao’s voice cracked as he boomed out his wish, “I wish -”

“ _ I wish for Piccolo Daimao to be _ -” Daimao’s ear barely flicked as he turned, shooting a beam of pure energy through the chest of the intruder. 

Poor Chaozu did not have to scream before he fell, a look of pained terror affixed to his face.  

“I wish for my  **_youth_ ** to be returned to me,” Piccolo roared, “return me to my  **_prime_ ** , Shenlong.” 

The dragon’s eyes glowed a burning red, and Tenshinhan, from where he lay in emotional agony, watched as the demon’s body changed.

The skin smoothed, taking on the color of grass in late spring. Yellowed patches became pink with youth, and muscles grew and bulged. The face of the ancient demon melted away, revealing the chiseled complexion of a god. 

Piccolo’s pearly fangs gleamed as he examined himself, reveling in his regal countenance. 

“Your wish is granted.” Shenlong boomed, “until next we meet, Pic -”

“Not so fast, old friend,” the demon’s snarl caused the dragon to pause… Just long enough for an explosion to cut through his skull. Shenlong’s shrieks of agony shook the landscape, his death throws leveling a nearby mountain. Shale rained down on the paralyzed Tenshinhan, and he closed his eyes, awaiting death. 

And then it was over, and seven perfectly round stones that were once the dragon balls lay in a circle in front of Daimao. The balls were inert. 

“ _ No _ ,” Tenshinhan gasped, managing to force his lips to move air out in a semblance of a word. First Goku, then Chichi, Roshi, and...and…  _ And Chaozu _ . Piccolo had killed them. He had killed them all, and now he had made it so no one could be revived. By killing Shenlong, Piccolo had killed hope. 

His face scrunched in anguish, trying and failing to hold tears inside. Daimao may have destroyed hope, but Tenshinhan would be  _ damned _ if he let the demon murder pure human determination. No. He gritted his teeth, crawling to the edge of his hideaway to watch the demon make his exit. 

Tenshinhan would not go down without a fight.

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you drank poison. You’re dumber than I thought.” Yajirobe muttered as the two teens warmed up over a cup of steaming hot tea.

“Mmm, but she lived through it,” Karin prowled around them, focusing on Chichi, poking with a curious claw and pushing Chichi’s tail to the side as he looked her over. “You know, everyone else’s died.” 

The girl rolled her eyes. 

“Well I didn’t. And I’ve got a demon t’kill. Some friend’s t’ avenge.” Her mind shot back to the inside of the cave, recalling the vivid, painful dreamscape. Goku was alive. Her father was there. Piccolo was not. He did not exist in that place. But that… that was a fantasy world. And she would have nothing to do with it. 

“That ye do, Miss,” Karin agreed, tapping his staff against her shoulder. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye, brown tail lashing and smacking against Karin’s furry leg. “But I do hope you’re not banking on taking a  kinto’un . I’m not sure you can still ride one, being so vengeful.”

“ Kinto’un was destroyed anyway,” she flicked her hair back off of her shoulder, trying to ignore the pang of loss. It had been Goku’s, after all. “I’ve got an airplane capsule I borrowed from Bulma.” 

“Stole it more like,” the cat grumbled under his breath. Chichi’s tail twitched, and her eyes narrowed. She made no move to deny it. “Worth a shot though, it’ll be quicker and a little stealthier than one of those newfangled contraptions…” 

The giant mass of  yellow clouds puttered at the edge of the tower, drawn there by Karin’s call. Chichi squinted at it, chewing her lip. 

“You’re not jumpin’ on that, are you?” Yajirobe stared over the railing, doubtful. Chichi’s tail flicked behind her, counter balancing her as she stood on the railing, staring down at it.

“Not goin’ to know if you don’t try it,” the cat prodded her ankle. 

“Oh alright,” she’d live if it didn’t hold her. She’d have time to catch the walls of the tower before crashing into Upa and his father’s home. Chichi closed her eyes and stepped off the ledge.

* * *

Piccolo Daimao held the barely conscious Tenshinhan off the ground, sneering. Tenshinhan’s vision swam in and out of focus, but he managed to spit at his soon-to-be executioner. Daimao tossed the unfortunate human away from him. Tien did not rise. The demon threw back back his head roared, “who else dares challenge me,  _ Piccolo Daimao, _ for rule of Earth? _ Come forth! _ ”

“ **_I_ ** _ do! _ ”

Daimao whirled around, eyes widening at the pure impossibility of it. Surely, his ears were wrong. But his ears were never wrong. 

Chichi jumped from the new chunk of  kinto’un to the ground, face curled in a snarl. 

“Drop him,” she squared her stance, knuckles blanched in her fists. 

The demon king stared at her, fiery eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

“I killed you.” 

“Guess again.” Her tail lashed behind her, its fierce movements accentuating her burning expression. And then she pounced. 

It was a fight to the death…with the fate of the world resting on her shoulders. 

Kick, punch, twist - she dug her fingernails into Daimao’s eyes, drawing blood even though she missed her target. He slapped her away, slamming her to the ground. Chichi bounced back up and landed a kick to his abdomen. Spittle splattered on her face. 

Hit for hit, blood for blood. 

Daimao’s emerald skin creased in fury as Chichi’s fingers closed around one of his large, pointed ears, ripping it from his head. 

“How dare you?” He howled, snatching her by the throat, his right ear hanging by a few scraps of skin. Black eyes burned with hellfire, and Chichi scrambled to free herself from his crushing grip, nails digging riverbeds for streams of black blood to run through on its way out of the Demon King’s body. He squeezed harder, and she saw spots. His cold, cruel laugh rang in her ears as he dropped her to the ground, punctuated by a blast of energy to her right leg, burning the flesh and breaking her femur. 

Chichi swallowed a cry of pain, weighting her uninjured left leg as she leapt away from Daimao. Blue-white ki burned in her fingers, hands dropping back to her hip. Hold the position now, hold it. Hold - 

Piccolo’s blast rocked the landscape, flattening trees, leveling what was left of the empirical city. Chichi stared at the devastation below, for moment dizzy. She could never have survived that. 

“Nice timin’ in wakin’ up, Tenshinhan,” she panted, giving her rescuer a grateful smile. The bald triclops nodded, expression tense.  

“Don’t thank me yet.” 

She whistled in agreement. 

“‘Scuse me, but I like this whole height advantage. You’ll have t’teach me this one sometime.” Before Tenshinhan could answer, she’d squirmed out of his grip, rocketing herself down at her enemy like some seabird intent upon spearing a fish.

A moment too late, Daimao caught wind of her narrow escape, and looked up, his laughter dying on his lips. 

_ “What?!”  _ Chichi’s left leg collided with the demon’s skull as she flipped in midair, using the momentum of her blow to somersault once more, cracking her fists down on the blossoming bruise. She landed, but her right leg immediately gave beneath her, sending torrents of agony lancing up and down her body. 

“Shit,” she tried to stand, to carry on with her attack while she had the upper hand...but the demon recovered much more quickly than she, or the descending Tenshinhan could ever have expected. “Kinto’un!” The little cloud had time only to snatch her before the shockwaves hit once more. She snarled, looking around for Tenshinhan. He was unconscious, but he would live. She could still feel his energy. 

Evidently, Piccolo sensed Tenshinhan’s life force as well. The demon cast a cruel glare in her direction, before springing upon the downed warrior. Too late, Chichi realized his intent.

“Leave him out of this!” She fired a small ki blast at her adversary, but he held up Tenshinhan’s limp form in front of his broad body. Chichi winced as her attack hit her friend’s torso. “I s’pose I shouldn’t expect fair play from a demon!” She spat, words laced with vehemence. “Slug shit!”

“Well,” Piccolo sneered, his claws digging into Tenshinhan’s bald head. Sweat beaded on his heavy brow, dripping down his chiseled cheekbones to his chin. “What say you to this?”

“Drop him an’ fight me for real!” The demon’s lips pulled back ever farther over his fangs, he shook his head. Tenshinhan groaned in his grip. Chichi’s tail lashed, fur bristled up like a cat’s. “I’ll rip your arm clean off, ya hear me?!”

Daimao held up his free hand, curling the four-digited limb until the human equivalent of his index finger stood alone. He wagged it, shaking his head. The two stalks of antennae perched above his brow mimicked his finger. 

“ _ Ah-ah-ah _ , should you move, I shall give your friend a headache he will never forget.” The demon illustrated his point, squeezing Tenshinhan’s head, dagger-like claws drawing blood. Tenshinhan groaned, face constricting in pain. “Come down from your cloud, Child.”

“Dirty cheat!” Chichi snarled as she dismounted from her perch atop the kinto’un. The little cloud’s normally upbeat, bubbly puttering noises sounded subdued to her ears as she pushed it away from her, wobbling on her left leg. The right refused to support her.

The choices were simple, really. Sacrifice the triclops and kill Daimao - he would never suspect it, would he? Surely he was banking on her surrender - or follow Daimao’s instructions, and everyone would die anyway. Why was it so difficult? He was going to kill Tenshinhan anyway… 

Her thoughts must have shown on her face. She was abruptly shaken from her deliberation as a rock slammed into her left elbow. Her eyes widened, and she lost her balance, staggering back as she felt the bones in her forearm crack. 

Her body begged, even as she struggled to stand, for a respite. Chichi gritted her teeth, muscles in her jaw and neck spasming in protest to the abuse as she forced her left leg under her, weight bearing through her right arm as she pushed herself up into a plank.

“Sorry, Ten,” she whispered. 

Daimao roared in surprise as Chichi launched herself at him, head first. His would-be-victim was dropped as he refocused on his assailant. 

Chichi’s unadorned head smashed into the demon’s chest, driving the breath from his lungs. He gagged, blood and spittle flying from his lips as he struggled to recover. 

“ _ You _ ,” he rasped, making a grab for her hair. The mighty fist snatched only air. He changed his tactic, firing blasts of ki at the girl. It succeeded only in kicking up dust. “Die, die!”  _ Why wouldn’t this  _ **_pestilence_ ** _ roll over and die?! _ He threw a blast at a movement in his peripheral vision. It was the triclops, struggling to rise. “Do you want your friend to perish?” 

“You’d just kill him anyway!” His ears twitched and flicked, trying to pinpoint from where exactly her voice was coming. “And when I beat you, I’ll wish ‘m all back!”

The demon’s ears perked, lips peeling back as his agitation gave way to some twisted mockery of mirth. 

“Oh you will, will you?” Daimao threw back his head, his booming laugh falling on unamused ears. “I think not.” His ears flicked, focusing in on her uneven footfalls. There she was…

“Why is that?”

Doubt in her voice? Oh, yes, there it was. He heard the tremor on her breath, unrelated to exhaustion. 

“ _ I killed Shenlong _ .” Daimao leapt into the air, simultaneously firing a ki blast where she hid. 

Frozen from shock and hindered by her injuries, Chichi failed to avoid the blast. Blood stained her teeth as she punctured her lip in an effort to swallow a scream. Dizzy with pain, with Daimao’s cruel laughter ringing in her ears, Chichi forced her right arm under her, spitting blood into the dirt. 

“One last shot,” Goku’s face danced in front of her, his goofy grin so real, so lifelike. “I’ve still got one good arm.” Energy rocketed from her palm, fanning out on the ground as she propelled herself into the air, “SLUG SHIT.” 

For the briefest of moments, she thought she wouldn’t make it all of the way through, and snarled. Skin, muscle, sinew, bone. It all gave way. 

_ Daimao was defeated. _

“That’s for you, Goku,” she would have swiped tears from her eyes, but lacked the energy. As she fell, hair matted with the demon’s hair, Chichi failed to see his final act.

Piccolo hung in the air, black blood spurting from the massive wound in his chest. He touched it, wincing, fingers coming away coated. He burned. 

Not even the Demon King could recover from this, drained as he was from the bloody battle. Yet...he had the strength to lay down one more plan… 

“She may have won this battle but my legacy will live on!” Piccolo choked around a heavy, solid mass forming in the ruins of his neck and chest. The skin of his neck bulged as it slipped up towards his mouth. Hurry now, hurry it along, or it will be too late for the both of you. It caught for a moment on his long fangs, but the demon unhinged his maw, channeling his energy and focus into launching it far from his ending. The egg, slick with a layer of slime, broke his teeth as he spat it across the skies. With blurry vision, Daimo watched it as it disappeared, calling out after it, “Go, my son, avenge your father and destroy all my enemies. Grow stronger than I ever could. Greater than I, with more cunning and guile than I… Avenge me… Piccolo Daimao... _ Junior _ .” 

Chichi screamed as one final explosion buffeted her falling body. Was it too late to call the kinto’un? 

“Ki-kinto’un!” she rasped, “kinto’un!” 

Goku’s little cloud caught her, even as her vision went black. 

* * *

 

Karin patted her on the head as she cried.

It was over. It was over and she felt the energy holding her emotions in check draining from her. How she had managed to hold it all in until reaching Karin’s tower, she would never understand. Sitting still, with the weight of all that happened since the Tournament weighing heavy on her soul, Chichi wept. 

All of the death. The pain and suffering. All of the literal, black blood drying on her hands, in her hair, cruelly reminded her that her friend was dead, and there was no way to bring him back. And all of the revenge in the universe would not be enough to ease the pain of his murder. 

Karin let her cry. A part of her wanted to envelope the cat in a tight embrace and bury her face in his thick fur. She knew he would beat her over the head with his staff if she tried. 

It may have been only a few minutes, it may have been an hour before the tears finally ran out. Chichi sniffled, wiping her eyes with a fully healed left arm. 

“So, Master Roshi and Chaozu are dead too?” The cat nodded, and offered her a handkerchief. She took it, honking mournfully as she blew her nose. Karin’s whiskers twitched. “And with Shenlong dead…”

“ _ Well… _ ”

* * *

 

_ As she hauled herself over the edge of the floating fortress, Chichi wondered if Goku had known the Nyoi-bō was the key to reaching the home of a god... _

“You shall have to face him again, Child,” Kami croaked, looking over her head, eyes glazed with stars. She furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of the wondrous look in the old man’s eyes. It was as if the night sky had taken hold of them. “My drawing breath is evidence enough of that.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Piccolo and I are cut from the same soul. If he dies, I follow him.” He blinked, and his eyes returned to their previous color of a dark maroon. “And I fear that when the brother of my soul returns, he shall be even more formidable than the monster you have only just defeated.”

Chichi’s fists clenched at her sides, her tail lashing behind her.

“Good, I’ll kick his ass twice as hard as last time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With her friends' lives returned, Chichi prepares to train harder than she ever has before to prepare for the greatest evil the world has ever faced! 
> 
> NEXT TIME ON DBC! THE CALAMITY REBORN!


	9. The Calamity Reborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Junior

**_“CHIIIIIICHHIIIIIII!”_** She barely had time to register just _who_ was grabbing her before Goku had swept her off of her feet. “Where’ve you been? Did you really meet Kami? Is he cool? You beat the Piccolo-guy, huh? Oof, you’ve gotten awfully heavy!” 

“Thanks a lot, you lump!” Chichi laughed, socking her revitalized friend in the shoulder as he set her down. “It’s not as if ye’ve not grown yerself!” Eyes shining, she looked him up and down, noting that, once again, he had grown almost a whole head in height in addition to starting to show some real musculature. His shaggy hair was scraped back into a rather messy bun, a few strands already sneaking free to fall around his tawny face. “Look at you, y’almost look like a real person instead of a little troll like last time I saw ya.” She caught his hand, palms smacking and veins in their forearms popping out in a show of strength. 

Her own vertical growth was far less impressive. It seemed that any of her remaining growth had gone to packing on muscle, and honing the powerful tissues to solid, lean bulk. 

“Yeah, well I didn’t adapt to eating bricks or whatever you’ve done,” he made a show of wiping sweat from his brow. She grinned, shrugging her shoulders emphatically to ensure her cape swished behind her. Goku didn’t seem to notice. Well, all the better. She loved him, but he’d never be able to keep his mouth shut if he knew her secret. “He didn’t give you a symbol or anything to show off?” Goku thumped the turtle sigil on his chest, “izzit on your back or - hey! Where’s your tail?!”

Catching up on three years of missed contact was impossible within such a short period of time. Especially with scarlet eyes boring into her back throughout the elimination rounds.

They made eye contact, and the ghost of her tail bristled, the scar tissue in the small of her back aching for the briefest of moments as Heroine and Calamity acknowledged each other for the first time. Chichi’s upper lip curled to the left, creasing her face and revealing sizeable canines. The demon sneered, drawing his lips back from over his odd, lavender gums, fangs longer than her thumb gleaming in his cruel mouth. Her eyes narrowed, and she drew herself as tall as she could muster, puffing out her chest as she thumped her fist on her sternum, jaw jutting out to punctuate the challenge. Her foe’s thick brows cocked, and he turned away with a swish of his billowing cape. 

“What was that about?” Goku came up behind her. Her eyes never flickered from her retreating nemesis; the demon was too tall to fade away into the crowd of hopeful martial artists. 

“ _Unfinished business_.” 

“It’s always something with you.” Tenshinhan joined Goku. She heard him gasp. With Piccolo on the other side of studio, she turned to look at her one-time foe, now friend. “Is that -”

“Keep your voice down,” Chichi cocked her head in the direction of Yamcha and Krillin. I’ll fill all ya in over there…” 

* * *

“Alright Folks, we have our contestants for the twenty-third Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament! There are some familiar faces in the mix, folks…” Chichi half listened as the announcer yammered on, scanning the crowd. She found Bulma, Launch, Roshi, Puar, and Oolong flashing a grin their way. “Allow me to introduce… Your fighters! I would like to welcome to our stage for the first time, Contestants Tao Pai Pai, Shen, and  _ Ma _ Juni _ or! _ Welcome back to these longtime contestants - Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, and an especially warm welcome to two-time runner up, Princess Chichi of the Ox Kingdom! Annnnd last but not least, our defending champion,  _ Ten _ **_shin_ ** _ haaaaan! _ ”

The crowd erupted into racaus cheering, fists waving, jumping, jostling - the excitement in the air was palpable. 

Between each skirmish, Ma Junior and Chichi stared daggers at one another; if looks could kill, half of the stadium would be dead. Tension mounted like a violin string tuned too tightly, each slash of Junior’s claws another turn of the knob, until finally, the string snapped. 

“You can have this back...but you’ll have to kill me -  _ and Kami  _ \- for it.” The demon threw back his head and cackled, dropping the bottle down his gullet. Goku and Tenshinhan struggled to hold back Chichi as it disappeared down his throat with gulp.

“Kami would rather me  _ kill him _ than let you keep wasting all the _fucking_ air!”

* * *

 

To say that the atmosphere surrounding the tournament was heavy would be the understatement of the millennium. Piccolo - or  _ Ma Junior _ as he was calling himself in an utterly arrogant way of shielding his true identity - stood across the arena from her, cape billowing out behind him, turban wrapped around his head, a vicious snarl twisting his face. She had to admit that he looked rather intimidating. But, Chichi smirked, standing as tall as her spine would allow, Piccolo was not the only one with a cape and shoulder pads after all. Sure, she wasn’t wearing armor, but she certainly had the aesthetic of a warrior princess. It was a pity weapons were not allowed. Her axe-blade helmet would surely balance out his silly turban. At least as an intimidation gimmick. 

Alas, it was not to be. 

The crowd around them cheered and whooped, calling for the start of the match. The brutality and bloodshed of Piccolo’s earlier rounds had caused some parents with young children and the more squeamish to take leave of the stadium; this final match was sure to be messy. 

Chichi’s dark eyes found Piccolo’s, and she bared her teeth. He snarled right back at her, much longer fangs gleaming, oversized ears pinning to his head. She recalled Kami’s being sensitive. Perhaps she could use it to her advantage… 

The announcer called for the fight to begin, and for a moment, the world seemed to still. Sound fell away, leaving only the roaring of blood in her ears. 

Then Piccolo lunged, and the battle for the future of Earth was on. 

Chichi fell back, landing on her hands and bringing her feet up to catch Piccolo in the stomach. Shoving out, she landed a solid blow to his chest rather than his gut; the move was effective nonetheless and the demon flew over her head. She flipped to her feet and spun around in time to see him somersault up into a crouch. His face was twisted in a horrible snarl, and she could see King Piccolo again. She sucked in a breath, heart seizing for a moment.  _ No, not now. _ She had a planet to save and babies to make. And she would be damned if this green bastard took that away from her. 

“You've grown stronger since last we met,” Piccolo hissed. 

“Congrats on Daddy managing to spit out a halfway appealin’ spawn. I was worried I'd have to look at that stupid eagle nose he was sportin’ again.” The demon’s ears pinned and he lunged.  _ Again? What did he take her f -  _ she moved to dodge, only to have Piccolo’s solid shin collide with the space between her pelvis and ribcage. She was sent flying, but gained control of her momentum before he could reach her again. Landing on all fours, Chichi threw herself back at him, making an obvious strike towards his face, prepared to feint if he was not smart enough to realize she was betting on him thinking she was about to aim elsewhere. 

“Really?” He moved to catch her wrist, but she dropped and swung her leg to sweep his feet out from under him. Junior jumped into the air, and Chichi followed him, catching his ankle and slamming him down against the hard stone floor of the ring. The back of his head hit first, much to her satisfaction. She took a brutal kick to the face and tasted blood, but spat it back at the demon. Before he could stand, Chichi was on his chest, knees digging into his elbows as she pummeled his face. 

“Spit out Kami and I’ll  _ consider _ sparing your arrogant ass!” She slammed her fist once more into his perfect little nose before he managed to flip their positions, pinning her beneath his larger, yet wiry frame. That was his one disadvantage. He should have waited until he had grown, filled out and had a true size advantage. Sure, he had muscles, but they were nothing compared to her own. Nineteen years was a helluva lot more time to build strength than three. She squirmed, testing his strength. His claws dug into the flesh of her arms.

“I’ll have you know, Princess, that if you kill me, you lose your _ precious  _ Kami. Surely you don't want the old man to die?” His face was close to hers now, and the announcer had started to count. Boos and jeers bellowed from the crowd. She could hear Goku and his friends cheering for her, yelling at her to get up and win. The announcer neared the end of the count, and she saw the disappointment in Piccolo’s eyes. “Surely this isn't -” She slammed her head into Piccolo’s already blood soaked face. The demon reared back, swearing and choking on a fresh stream of blood. Chichi pounced, somersaulting through the air and bringing her heel down on the top of his head. Lancing pain shot up her leg, but Piccolo fell forward, his turban slipping from his head. She landed awkwardly, cursing as she tested her leg. It  hurt like hell, but it would hold her. 

“The fuck is that thing made of? Are fucking _kidding_ me? That’s solid metal you crazy -” she was interrupted as the spectators began screaming. 

“It’s _Piccolo_! He’s back, the _Demon King_ has returned!” 

“Run! Run for your lives!”

“It’s the end of the world!”

“Are you kiddin’ me?” Chichi screamed, Blood-flecked saliva spewing for her mouth at the spectators’ fleeing backs, “he has green skin an’ pointy ears, of course he’s Piccolo! They look exactly the damn same!” 

Piccolo stood slowly, laughing wildly, his head thrown back. He swayed on his feet, eyes gleaming red. 

The crowd was clearing at record pace, people trampling each other in fear as they fled from the Nightmare Reborn. It was better this way; fewer casualties. Only the announcer, Goku and the rest of their crew remained. 

Piccolo sneered, but moved no closer to her. Instead, he stood stock still, a statue if not for the breeze lifting his cape. 

“Come now, Princess, I know you're wearing weighted clothing, as am I; I don't care how densely muscled you are,” he fingered his cowl, “you cannot possibly be as heavy as you felt.” Chichi snarled at him as he slipped his shoulder pads and cape over his head, throwing them off the side of the ring. They landed with a solid thud, and the earth shook. 

“Call me heavy again an’ I’ll kick your slimy ass so hard you won't be able to sit down for a month.”

He spread his arms in a welcoming gesture which was so completely neutralized by the wild look in his red eyes. 

“Am I wrong? Are you not wearing weighted gear?”

“I am,” she admitted and hesitated. He had removed his, and seemed to be willing to offer her the same courtesy, but she trusted him about as far as she could throw Shenlong. How was she supposed to know he would not attack her while her face was covered? 

He seemed to guess her thoughts, and stepped back.

“I wish to defeat you utterly, and at your best. How can I possibly savor my revenge if I know you were weighed down at the time?”

Chichi scowled, but hooked her fingers under her own cape and yanked it off over her head. Her wild hair was even messier after the ordeal, and she knew that she had failed to look as cool and collected as Piccolo had whilst he stripped. Still, she felt lighter.

Standing before him a simple blue mandarin style shirt and red gi pants, Chichi felt naked. The weighted cowl of her cape had protected her abdomen from blows, and those deadly claws of his… 

She took a moment to stretch, keeping a wary eye on Piccolo, who was doing the same. His shoulders and upper arms were rather impressive, even if the rest of him had yet to catch up. 

“Scrawny, creepy shit,” she muttered under her breath. 

“I heard that.”

“ _ Good! _ ” Crap. Damn those ears of his. Maybe she'd rip them off and eat them in front of him. Add a little insult to injury. The demon before her straightened, rolling his shoulders. Chichi glowered at him, lip curling as she took in his stance. 

Junior sneered, his eyes gleaming red over a face contorted by snarl lines. He held himself, completely open. Couldn’t he at least respect the art and pretend to set up a defense? Hands resting on his hips, as if his most pressing concern was whether or not his next snarky comment would carry enough bite.

Piccolo’s eyes glowed crimson, and she leapt into the air just in time to avoid a beam of burning ki.

With Goku's voice cheering her on, she lunged. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Chichi defeat the Menace Piccolo Junior? Or will she be vanquished at his hand? Find out, next time on Dragon Ball C! The Mega Evil Exploding Wave VS The Ultimate Kamehameha!


End file.
